On July 15, 2024, La Poste issued a stamp on the Robert TATIN museum located in Mayenne. It is classified as a Historic Monument.
Born in 1902 in Laval in a modest environment, Robert Tatin was initially an apprentice building painter. He discovers the world of construction and that of creation that he will never leave. After the First World War, he settled in Paris as a painter-decorator worker. At the same time, he enrolled in Fine Arts.
The 1930s corresponded to a prosperous period during which he created his building business in Laval. He travels regularly and discovers several European countries, North Africa and New York.
Deeply marked by the horrors of war, after 1945 he embarked on a purely artistic adventure. Installed in Paris, where he founded a ceramics and painting workshop, he rubbed shoulders with Prévert, Breton, Cocteau, Giacometti, Dubuffet.
In Brazil, he deepened his knowledge in the field of ceramics. In 1951, he won a first prize and international recognition at the São Paulo Biennale. He then crossed South America, freed himself from academic dogmas and broadened his register of shapes and colors.Installed in Vence in 1957, he exhibited in Nice and Paris, in the gallery of his patron Robert Steindecker.
The artist returned to Mayenne in 1962 and bought a small house in Cossé-le-Vivien. He undertook, with his wife Élisabeth, the design and creation of their “Maison des Champs” which became “Strange Musée Robert Tatin”, a total work of art inspired by his experiences, travels and meetings. From then on, all the energy of the couple was devoted to shaping a monumental sculpture in harmony with the bocage landscape that surrounds it. Robert Tatin designs a dreamlike work, inspired by his experiences with the architects behind the construction of Brasilia and their technical and formal work with cement. The originality of this site gives it a unique place among heritage sites. As such, it benefits from multiple recognitions: “Museum of France” designation, “Maison des Illustres” label and classification as a Historic Monument.
