As Debts Pile Up, an Artist and His Work Face Eviction in Paris
By Aida Alami
PARIS
— Alain Le Yaouanc’s work was once shown with the greats — among
Mirós, Max Ernsts, Picassos and Giacomettis. He was a close friend of
the author Louis Aragon and hailed by the poet Alain Bosquet as one of
France’s greatest artistic geniuses.
But
that was a while ago. In recent years, lost in his own creativity,
isolated in his studio and forgetful of the world and the realities of
survival, the 74-year-old artist stopped showing and his work stopped
selling. On Wednesday, after some financial setbacks, he is to be
evicted from his home and studio of nearly 50 years.
Many,
including the city of Paris, are worried that Mr. Le Yaouanc’s plight
is endangering his works, a rich part of France’s 20th-century cultural
legacy, and the authorities are trying to find a way to make sure that
none of the paintings, sculptures, collages and other objects piled up
in the 1,000-square-foot-space are lost or damaged.
“There
is a strong will by this city to preserve the works of Mr. Le Yaouanc,
as the work of an artist of this magnitude must be,” said Hector
Raffaud, chief of staff of Bruno Julliard, the deputy mayor of Paris.
“It is not very easy to find a working solution that is viable. Even
though the artistic quality is unquestionable, this is still a private
matter, a private patrimony that doesn’t belong to the city of Paris.”
As
for himself, Mr. Le Yaouanc (pronounced yah-WONK) says he is not
leaving, that the authorities will have to carry him out, and this is no
idle threat. In July 2013, when he first faced eviction, he locked
himself in and threatened to kill himself. His son, in tears outside,
persuaded the local authorities to give his father more time.
It
all started a decade ago, after Mr. Le Yaouanc took out a loan of
123,000 euros, around $160,000, from a Belgian bank to send a massive
marble sculpture of his from Texas to Beirut, Lebanon, as a gift to the
city. He used his apartment as collateral but soon found himself unable
to repay the loan.
A
Lebanese friend assumed the loan, but on the condition that Mr. Le
Yaouanc agree to sell the apartment to his creditor for €700,000, or
about $900,000, in the event of default. After a series of bad financial
decisions, Mr. Le Yaouanc lost everything, including the apartment, now
estimated to be worth at least €1.25 million, or $1.6 million.
The
city offered him a small apartment, but he turned it down because it
could not hold even a tenth of his artwork, he said. Now, he has a few
days to pack up, not nearly enough time, he says, to move and relocate
decades of artwork.
“What
is asked from me is physically impossible,” Mr. Le Yaouanc said
recently, shirtless as always when he works, and pulling on his long
white beard. He strongly believes he should have been given more time to
pay back his debts and keep his apartment. “How can a country of
rights, one which says it cares about art, ask such a thing from a
citizen?”
Originally
from Alençon, in Normandy, he says he has sacrificed his life to his
work in this apartment in the Marais, the epicenter of bourgeois
bohemian. It is so crammed that natural light no longer finds its way
inside. His bed is nestled in a dark corner among hundreds of paintings,
sculptures and collages.
Moving
50 years of an artist’s work is no easy task, said Houda Kabbaj, 29, a
photographer and architect who has been helping Mr. Le Yaouanc pack up,
14 hours a day. Moving poses multiple challenges. It has to be overseen
by the artist and carried out by people trained in handling precious
artwork. Each of the pieces, many of them quite fragile, has to be
cataloged and carefully packed in a safe container.
Ms.
Kabbaj met Mr. Le Yaouanc at Le Felteu, a traditional Parisian bistro
in the Rue Pecquay, where he eats every day. Brigitte Agnona Peheaa, the
owner of Le Felteu, has been feeding him free for 10 years. She lets
him bring his own knives and spices and bottles of wine.
“We
always spend magic moments with him,” the restaurant owner said. “He
nourishes our imagination and dreams. His stories transport me in time,
to a magic world.”
A
fan of Goya and Ernst, whom he considers to be one of the smartest
painters ever, Mr. Le Yaouanc began his career in the United States,
moving there in 1956, first to Maine for language study and then, in
1958, to New York, where he attended the Art Students League. His first American exhibit was at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Conn., in 1957.
He
admits that his difficult personality may have been a major source of
his troubles. His son Allen, a web consultant based in Brussels, says
his father might have benefited more if he had played the gallery game
and been more flexible about his art.
“My
dad never courted anyone and has a particular reputation in France,” he
said. “He is a free man who is paying for never being submissive to
galleries and art collectors.”
Mr.
Raffaud, the deputy mayor’s aide, said Mr. Le Yaouanc had received
special treatment from the city, where evictions are usually a lot
swifter. The Ministry of Culture is also about to provide a few thousand
euros to help the artist move his work to a space lent by a friend of
the family.
Mr. Le Yaouanc is still hoping for an extension on his moving deadline so he can continue his work in peace.
“I haven’t started my life yet,” he said. “I still have so much more to create.”
