The need to create 6

I was lucky to live in Ménerbes and I knew it. I was meeting incredible people everyday. One of the people I met was Tony Mayer, once cultural Attaché from France to England(a post he held for 28 years), now in his 90's, had known everybody in the arts during his time as a diplomate. One day at his very beautiful home(Carmejane), we talked of Dora Maar, apparently she had painted a lot in years gone by, and he told me I could see one of her paintings in his bedroom on the south east wall by the window and sent me up to his room. After seeing the painting I turned and saw an old iron bathtub and above it a Matisse painting of a nude! over the years Matisse had captivated my attention, and even though I was no expert, I KNEW this was an original! I stayed quite awhile before regaining my host who interrogated me as why it took so long, as I explained he laughed and then confirmed my thesis! I often visited with Tony and attended the many private concerts he patronized in his home. Today there is a "Colombe", in Ménerbes stone, on his grave.



Carmejane Ménerbes






In september of 1987 I travelled to Greece staying on the island of Paros. I knew that the Venus of Milos was sculpted from Parian marble and I went in search. Apparently the marble had not been extracted since the time of Napoleon and no one knew of the quarry's exact location. I persisted and finally got a vague idea of it's whereabouts. Covered over by years of abandon and with the help of a Canadian speleologist, I had met in Parikia, I descended down a narrow shaft, about 1.5 meters wide, by stairs cut into the mass of marble. On the walls were "graffiti", at the entrance the images were thousands of years old(women in togas) and after 50 meters down they were "modern"(1800's and no more togas), there was no light at this depth and extremely cold in comparison with the 40° outside. I separated some small blocks from the mother mass, illuminating them with a flashlight from behind checking for unwanted veins, the stone was translucent, it was still "alive". I had wrapped the blocks(approximately 60 kilos) up carefully and put them in my knapsack, keeping them away from the sun and heat. I kept them this way until I was ready to sculpt. I had heard that "fresh" marble would cut like butter and I wasn't deceived. It was pure joy to work on those stones! "Eros" was the first piece in my Parian marble.



"Eros" Pionteki Kehrlein




Influenced by my voyage to Greece I sculpted "Ulysse"; 4 tons of limestone, 7.5 meters long, partly architectural, partly organic.


"Ulysse" Pionteki Kehrlein


John Rewald's house was sold before his death to Yves Rousset-Rouard the producer of Emmanuelle Arson's movies(it's strange how things connect). John could come and spend the summer, but he had taken all of his Art out and Yves replaced them with reproductions, John was heart broken. The village was obviously changing and a young American gave me a way out; Arden Mason, a decsendent of Averell Harriman, owned a home in the village and when he saw what was happening asked me if I would like to restore an old farm in the Ménerbes countryside for him, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

The need to create 5

John Rewald portrait with Mont Ste. Victoire Pionteki Kehrlein


Coutelle's house in Ménerbes was a three story building which started it's days as a post relay station and auberge just under the "Citadelle" occupied by John Rewald, an art historian who wrote "The History of Impressionism", a Cezanne scholar, John had lived at the Chateau Noir in the 1920's! We had an intense relationship(I was the same age as his son who had died years earlier), talking for hours about art but also about life, as if I was his son. His home, the "Citadelle" was a small fortress dominating the village, full of art he had collected over his life.




Dora Maar seated Picasso




Next door to me lived Dora Maar in a house she had shared with Picasso in the 1930's who gave it to her at the end of their relationship. In her house were drawings by Picasso on the wall, I was extatic!


Ménerbes Nicolas de Staël 1953


Nicolas de Staël lived in the Chateau de Castellet at the end of the village until 1953.




Colombe Pionteki Kehrlein

My studio was was large and faced north, there were limestone quarries all over the countryside, I was in heaven. Besides sculpting literally tons of the local stone, I recuperated a block of Carrara marble I had left at Chateau Noir which became "Origine de Monde", (first exhibited in the Salon des Realities Nouvelles,Grand Palais, Paris, now at the Musée Campredon,L'Isle sur Sorgue,France). It was during this time I sculpted my first "Colombe" which I have done many variations of, in different stones and in bronze, over the years.