Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 10:34PM Van Gogh's Limestone Canvas
A MODERN EXHIBIT IN A PROVENCAL QUARRY
By Martha Christopherson
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 12, 2008; GoWorldTravel.com, November 2008
Photo courtesy of Cathedrale d' Images
LES BAUX EN PROVENCE, France - It’s no secret Vincent Van Gogh was inspired to paint some of his most vibrant works during his time in the south of France. His Provençal paintings invoked swirling brushstrokes in starry skies, golden-hued sunflowers arranged in curvaceous vases and swaying plane and cypress trees.
So, when I heard a super-sized exhibit of Van Gogh’s art was being presented in a cold, dark, rock quarry in Les Baux de Provence, it struck me as a metaphor for his tenebrous moods and bouts of depression rather than a backdrop for his colorful masterpieces. This was something I had to see.
I drove the 5-1/2 miles from my hotel in St. Remy to the village of Les Baux situated in the hilly range of the Alpilles not far from the ruins of an historic, medieval castle. Amid rock quarries (one still in use), I followed the signs to Cathedrale D’Images and discovered a large limestone structure cum art museum. Years of excavation had left the stone configured into a series of deep chambers with pillars and walls 20 to 60 feet tall – a perfect venue for a larger-than-life art show.
The bright sun reflected off the white, stone walls and I was relieved to be near the cool rock on a very warm day. As I stepped inside the dark quarry and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dim surroundings, I was swept up in a beautiful soundtrack of amplified, classical music.
I ventured deeper into the quarry and found dozens of images staring back at me from the stone walls. Self-portraits, landscapes and Van Gogh’s iconic painting, The Bedroom at Arles were projected on the natural surfaces towering above and around me. Wisps of the mistral from a Starry Night whirled by me and boats on the sea at Saintes-Maries bobbed from one stone screen to the next. Was the chill I felt from the mistral? The sea? I was no longer certain it was just the dankness of the quarry.
Photo courtesy of Cathedrale d'Images
The silhouettes of other visitors were dwarfed by the images. From across the quarry I saw the shadow of a figure standing in front of Van Gogh’s Irises, another figure blended in with the black birds taking flight in Wheatfield with Crows, and another peered up at the white-powdered face of The Courtesan in Japanese costume.
Sometimes the paintings hung still. Other times they floated by on the strains of a sweet melody or were eerily magnified in the case of Van Gogh’s blue eyes. I learned some 3,000 images were used in the production and were beamed by 30 projectors onto the 43,000 square-feet of limestone. A computer controlled the sequence, motion and lighting and it was all synced to the powerful music of the soundtrack.
Images were first projected on the walls of this quarry in 1975 by Albert Plécy, a French journalist and life-long innovator in photography and the media. He was inspired by a multi-screen show he had seen in Montreal in 1965 and returned to France determined to find a place where a similar concept could work. Cathedrale D’Images was launched and a new show has been staged every year since 1977.
Past presentations have included Strolling in Africa, Portraits of China and the Colors of Cézanne. This year’s show was directed by Régis Prevot, an independent producer and screen writer known in France for his work in documentaries and live television.
As I made the drive back to St. Remy where, the day before, I had toured the asylum where Van Gogh had stayed and painted many of its peaceful surroundings, I couldn’t help but wonder if the men who had toiled excavating limestone from the quarry ever imagined what they left behind would become a canvas for such a great artist.
IF YOU GO
Cathedrale D’Images
Route de Maillane – 13520 Les Baux de Provence