Pous, Jean
untitled
Jean Pous, untitled, between 1962 and 1967, carved stone, height : 30 cm, photo : Marie Humair, Atelier de numérisation – Ville de Lausanne, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne
Author
Pous, Jean,
(1875-1973), France
Biography
Jean Pous (1875–1973) was born in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of France. He had poor health as a child and didn’t go to school until the age of ten, but soon obtained his school certificate. Eight years later, with the help of two of his brothers, he founded his own company, which he continued to run with his son until 1959. Pous created his first sculptures at the age of eighty-seven, in the courtyard of his home. He would go for walks in the countryside and along rivers, gathering all kinds of stones – granite, flint, or slate – which he sculpted using simple, homemade tools. Gouging, chiselling, and scraping, he gradually formed faces, animals, plants, and flowers. He would find his initial inspiration in the original shapes of the stones and the grooves or variations in colour they might have. He worked assiduously, carving almost 1,500 pieces. In 1967, at the age of ninety-two, he was forced to stop making sculptures after suffering a heart attack. So he began drawing and painting on salvaged paper and cardboard.
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