Sculptural rocks of Rotheneff and the story of their talented creator (15 photos + 1 video)
Often, expensive materials and special education are not needed to create masterpieces. Aspiration, diligence and what nature has given us are enough. 
In 1879, in a small town in the south-east of France called Châteauneuf-de-Galore, one postman began the construction of a fantastic palace, which took 33 years and today bears his name - the Palais Cheval. 
About 15 years later, on the other side of the country, on the coast of Brittany, the priest Father Fouéré began creating an equally fantastic complex of seaside sculptures, for which he received the nickname of the Cheval de Bretagne. 
Author
His real name was Adolphe Julien Fouéré, and he was ordained a priest in 1863. He served in several parishes until 1894, when vascular problems left him almost deaf, forcing him to retire. He found refuge in the small village of Rotheneff. 
There, without any artistic knowledge, he became interested in sculpture and began working within the framework of the emerging Art Brut movement (art created outside the framework of official culture), an interest in primitivism and exoticism. 
From 1894 to 1907, he made many sculptures from wood that anyone could see. His house turned into a kind of museum. He made everything from totem poles to figures of political figures of the time, saints, mythological creatures, animals, whose shape was usually adapted to the shape of the chosen piece of wood. 
But, undoubtedly, his most famous and large-scale work is more than 300 sculptures carved directly into the granite rocks of the Emerald Coast (Côte d'Émeraude), a monumental work in the open air. 
The ensemble includes free-standing figures and mostly bas-reliefs, which Fouéré painted with bright colors (according to the author's own notes, mainly blue, light yellow, burgundy and chocolate), and emphasized the facial features by applying resin. 
They represent fantastic figures from his fantasies. They are also images from books, characters from history and geography, contemporaries of current events that he read about in the newspapers. These include references to the first Boer War in southern Africa, missionary work in the French colonies, and scenes reminiscent of distant places such as China and Japan. 
Characters include the famous Irish saint Saint Budoc de Dol and Jacques Cartier, the first French explorer of America. 
Queen Cleopatra, Emperor Napoleon, Emperor Faustino of Haiti, Queen Behanzin of Dahomey, Queen of Sheba, Queen Victoria, Merlin or Gargantua are just a few of the recognizable characters of this place. 
Every winter, the author restored the sculptures, cleaned and repainted them so that they would be ready for the next wave of tourists in the summer. The reality was that in 1896 the city of Saint-Malo built a tram line specifically to cope with the huge influx of tourists coming to see the rocks. 
A stroke in 1907 that left him almost speechless forced Fouéré to abandon almost all his activities, including this one. He died three years later, on February 10, 1910. 
In the following years, his creations continued to be popular, and many curious people flocked to Rotheneff to see the strange sculptures on the coastal cliffs. In 1925, 80,000 annual visits were recorded. In 2012, the site was still visited by about 40,000 tourists per year. 
Over time, the wooden works disappeared. Their current location is unknown. The sculptures on the rocks by the sea began to deteriorate, losing all their multicolor. Gradually, sea water, wind and bad weather eroded them to such an extent that today they are in danger of disappearing.
Since 2010, there has been an association of connoisseurs of Father Fouéré's work, which tries to preserve his memory by holding exhibitions, excursions and caring for his sculptures.
