In the village of Éguilles, near Aix-en-Provence, there is a garden belonging to the artist Max Sauze which was awarded the label ‘jardin remarquable’ by the Ministry of Culture in 2005. Our visit started when we stepped into Max’s art gallery and were warmly welcomed by his wife, Anne Sauze-Leberre. We were immediately intrigued by his highly imaginative work and the iconic lamps made of bent aluminium strips, lamps and steel wire. These lamps helped to establish Max’s reputation as an artist and master of design during the 1960s after he arrived in France from Algeria, where he was born.
| The showroom, displaying a variety of art works |
Max Sauze moved to Éguilles in 1963 to a house with an abandoned vegetable plot surrounded by a few fruit trees, a large lime tree, a plane tree and a palm. Amongst these trees Max added others: black cedar, red thuya, blue cypress, cherry, olive and plum. Shrubs were planted including Philadelphus coronarius, Viburnum tinus, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Mahonia aquifolium and perennials such as Ballota pseudodictamnus, Euphorbia characias and Vinca minor. Over the years this area was lovingly transformed into a shady, intimate and natural setting for his sculptures.
For over 60 years Max has been conceiving, designing and creating all kinds of shapes in a multiplicity of materials including metal, paper, plastic, snail shells, stone and wood. He has a total mastery of these materials and draws inspiration from nature, working on the multiplication of form from a simple base. Walking through Max’s garden is like being in a tiny universe both intimate and poetic. It is a feast for the eyes, where sculptures blend in with their back ground and at every turn one is both intrigued and delighted.
Text and photographs: Tilly Chambers