- The history of a fascinating sculpture garden created by art dealer
Paul Haim created a sculpture garden around a modest farm, La Petite
Escalère, including monumental works by Rodin, Maillol, Niki de Saint
Phalle, Zao Wou-Ki, Françoise Lacampagne, Cárdenas, Mark Di Suvero,
Léger, Matta, ZigorIn the 1970s, in the region of the Landes, between
Bayonne and Peyrehorade, on the banks of the Adour River, the
photographer Jeannette Leroy and the art dealer Paul Haim created a
sculpture garden around a modest farm, La Petite Escalère. With the help
of the faithful gardener Gilbert Carty, amidst canals, bridges, paths
made of railway ties, and many trees and flowers, they installed about
50 works, some of them monumental, by artists such as Rodin, Maillol,
Niki de Saint Phalle, Zao Wou-Ki, Françoise Lacampagne, Cárdenas, Mark
Di Suvero, Léger, Matta, Zigor... Paul positioned the sculptures, and to
help them vanish into the natural environment Jeannette would plant a
shrub, a rosebush, dahlias, an oak, a maple, a gingko, a Caucasian
walnut... "I don't want this garden to become ridiculous!" she said.
Paul Haim has evoked the bewitching beauty of La Petite Escalère better
than anyone else: "The nonchalant visitor will pass from the shade of
Les Barthes to the brightness of the Moura, from the freshness of the
fountains to the suffocating heat of the forest. Coming around a bush,
he allows himselfto be surprised by an unusual presence. Immutable. ...
Far from the agitations of the world, sinking into nothing-ness,
watching the clouds go by, contemplating the places of joy." Text in
English and French.
