{"id":3006,"date":"2022-07-21T17:56:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T15:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlescarrere.art\/focus-les-caprices-du-maitre-verrier\/"},"modified":"2024-03-12T17:37:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T16:37:46","slug":"focus-les-caprices-du-maitre-verrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlescarrere.art\/en\/focus-les-caprices-du-maitre-verrier\/","title":{"rendered":"FOCUS: It all starts with a whimsical drawing!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The encounter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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It was on 16 May 2017 that I met Charles Carr\u00e8re at the Mus\u00e9e Basque et de l’histoire de Bayonne. I am a press correspondent for a local newspaper and I am covering the event of the signing of the agreement formalising the deposit in the museum of a mosaic belonging to the Aviron Bayonnais made in 1949 by Jean Lesquibe. Charles Carr\u00e8re had supervised the restoration, which was carried out by Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Perry<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I arrived early and went upstairs to photograph the work. Then an old man sitting at the entrance to the room called out to me and asked who I was. We chat and I learn that his name is Charles Carr\u00e8re and that he was Jean Lesquibe’s apprentice. He asks me where I come from because he has spotted a Belgian phrase in one of my sentences. I replied that I had just returned from R\u00e9union but that I was of Belgian origin. He then invited me to come and see his workshop to show me photos of the stained glass windows he had made in Reunion. It was only later that I understood that it was my Belgian origin that interested him most.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

First time visit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Charles Carr\u00e8re in his studio \u00a9JanieCailliau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I promised, so I go. So I go to the artist’s house, wondering what I am going to discover. Charles Carr\u00e8re doesn’t give me time to contemplate the strange paintings I see on the wall, some of which catch my eye because I recognise typically Reunionese vegetation. He takes me to the other studio, the one where he paints, makes me sit down and asks me to wait for him as he disappears into a small room at the back of the studio. He returns with a large green cardboard box, opens it and reveals a charcoal drawing punctuated by a “Voil\u00e0” and then shuts up and watches me\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Dante et Virgile” : Un caprice de \u00a9CharlesCarr\u00e8re<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From the first glance, I internally salute the good drawer and then I lean over to read the title of the work. Dante and Virgil\u2026 and there, it jumps out at me, it’s the hell they’re going through in a hopper\u2026 I burst out laughing. He remains impassive and observes me\u2026 I say to him: “But you are completely surreal, Mr. Carr\u00e8re”! Then his eyes light up\u2026 And I finish: “Your comedy with a sauce boat is divine”! Finally I win the outline of a smile that reassures me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explains to me that the gravy boat that served as a model is his grandmother’s, which he still uses. We discuss and talk about “The Divine Comedy”, whose author is Dante. To summarise the story, Virgil leads Dante through hell and purgatory to save his soul. Dante is then guided by Beatrice, his muse, to heaven. This interpretation of the Divine Comedy drawn by Charles Carr\u00e8re totally seduces me. He then shows me another drawing entitled “Vladimir and Estragon”, tells me that the tree stump is Godot and that these two characters are waiting for Godot. And then he pretends not to remember the name of the author of the play. I’m lucky because I know the answer: it’s Samuel Beckett. And that’s it, with that answer I passed my ‘entrance exam’. And we talk about Belgium, about the Belgian love of surrealism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regular appointments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is when our long meetings begin, which will last until his death in February 2021 and during which he will accept the presence of my camera. We will talk very seriously about the stained glass windows of course, but also about the mosaics and all his work as an artist. Below is an example of the result of our meetings with the video of the caprice “Vladimir and Estragon” and the succulent comments of Charles Carr\u00e8re:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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