This place is amazing. Somewhere in the depths of France, lost in woods and fields, in a tiny village Autery. And there is a house. It is impossible to live in it. Most of this house is like a castle which small children, while playing, built of sand. And yet this house is similar to the House with Chimeras of Gorodetsky and a little on the Gaudi buildings. Total slightly.
But the house like this you never see!
The house has a name – the House of Crazy Horse. Name of postman who built it, was Cheval (horse – eng.). Each day, making its 32 km journey, Ferdinand Cheval brought home a stone. And then, at night or at dawn, build his own homes. And so – during 33 years. The first stone he saw by hazard. Just walked, stumbled and fell. .But he stumbled on a stone of a strange shape. Since this all started.
“Farmers son, I would like to live and to show that in my class there are also creative people. 29 years I was the village postman. I was proud of his work and she was my only joy, here is my strange story. I started it and 40 years later the dream came true”.
So wrote about his home Monsieur Cheval. 32 km every day. In any weather. Someone just walking on the road. But Monsieur Cheval dreamed. He has a dreams all the time. So house is fully emerges in his head. All 4 front of the house are different. They have names – North, South, West and East. It is unlikely that you have enough days to count all the people, animals, reading all the inscriptions and consider all the infinite number of patterns on the house. And this is interesting. Like the book with pictures. Even without pictures, but with sculptures. Sculptures are naive, the proportions are not always met. HOUSE squat and wide. But what fun it is to walk around, finding more and more details! Here is a little kid looks, here is the tangle of intertwined snakes, here is the grotto of the Virgin Mary and the inscription appropriate. And here is the wall of the Giants: Caesar, Vercingetorix and Archimed – the figures above 3 meters. Truly giants! Above their heads, palms. One side is devoted entirely to the buildings of the world. W There are really a lot of things there – and a mosque, and a Hindu temple, and a medieval castle, and the white house. Nearby we discovered the temple of druids. Wall – Creation of the World. Amazing! Monsieur Cheval built his house from 1872 to 1912. As he wrote on a wall “… I built this house of a thousand and one night …”. Big fairy tale. Monsieur Cheval, even timidly was called the Father of Outsiders. Very shy. Because his figure on the world art horizon is invisible. Although his house, later given the official name of IDEAL PALACE, listed as cultural heritage of France.
Art of Outsiders. Non formal art. Not classic. Not academic. Someone incomprehensible. But his time gave food to numerous artists, poets, sculptors and filmmakers. It was the art of change. The same as scrapping of 19-20 century. The old passed, it replaced the new, it was not able to end to form, and to replace it already walking more impossible, futuristic future.
And Picasso? Breton? Marriage? Miro? New art? Outsiders? Their work can be named differently. One thing is clear – they have already become classics. But they once watched in amazement at the creation Monsieur Cheval! Maybe his house was inspired by the masterpieces? But at the same time, the village inhabitants, locals of Auperiv twirled their fingers near the temple, thinking that the poor postman quite crazy. Crazy. Crazy. House of Crazy Horse.
Postman himself, with his own hands built this house. Survived a few funny pictures – skinny mustached guy in an apron and with a wheelbarrow with stones. Whiskers funny, stick in hand. But not like Dali – neatly to the side. Like a man, which have no time at all.
For good reason here is also built small viewing platform with a sunclocks and inscription “Lost moments”.