The surrealist André Breton (1896-1966) wrote in 1951, discovering the village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the Lot: “I stopped being desired elsewhere”. The house he had acquired the same year in this village, which has now become the international center for surrealism and global citizenship, was the victim of a fire start in the evening of Monday, March 3, around 11:30 p.m. The flames spread to the first floor of the 13th century house, classified as a historic monument in 1923. No victim is to be deplored, only material damage.
As soon as the fire alarm sounded, the museum curator, Clément Gaësler, as well as elected officials and municipal employees rushed into the building to recover the works. “We tried to turn off what we could”said Mayor Frédéric Decremps to France 3 “But it was far beyond what you could imagine. »»
The intervention of around sixty firefighters, who managed to put out the fire around 2 am, saved 95 ” % of the museum’s works. A trunk containing elements of the André Breton collection was however destroyed, according to France 3as well as a sculpture by Michel Dintrich, an element of the pipe by André Breton and two works by Lou Dubois and Ody Saban, according to The dispatch.
An investigation was opened to determine the origin of the fire which declared itself when the building had been the subject of a recent renovation, “We finished the renovation last year. The building is brand new. We say that if it is an electrical problem, how it can happen, what. Works have burned. It’s hard “said to France 3 the mayor.
The museum has made a call to donation on its website, explaining that damage (electricity system, audiovisual system, destroyed furniture, a few damaged walls and ceilings, soot in quantity to clean) “Were important enough to upset our calendar and jeopardize all the activities we want for this year”.
André Breton’s house was acquired by the municipality in 2016 and hosts exhibitions, serves as an artist residence and university research center.
