In Provence, in the foothills of the Massif des Maures, Philippe Austruy planted his roots at the Commanderie de Peyrassol, a unique place that he wants to be a land of emotions and pleasures, a land dedicated to wine and art.
The road twists and turns in the shade of oaks trees, runs between two perfectly restored terraces, along rows of vines drawn with a line. The eye is suddenly attracted by a huge cylindrical structure which, in the distance, seems to shine brightly. This is one of the last works installed in Peyrassol. Signed Daniel Buren, it is meant to be “a majestic door, a passage that leads to art and wine, a generous entrance thanks to its colors playing with the sun”. Daniel Buren’s work joins the sixty sculptures that now dot this wine estate founded in the 13th century by the Order of the Templars.
Scattered in the vineyards or in the forest, the sculptures are signed François-Xavier Lalanne, Bernar Venet, Arman, Alain Clément, Jean Tinguely, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Vladimir Skoda, Keiji Uematsu, Patrick Fleury, Federica Matta or Jaume Plensa. Other works by Niki De Saint Phalle, Franck Stella, Anthony Gormley and François Morellet can be discovered in the magnificent art gallery created by the architect Charles Berthier. Invisible from the outside, this glass and concrete structure is bathed in light thanks to a central well from which emerges a monumental work by Bernar Venet. “… in art it’s like in wine, there are things I like and others I don’t like. When I experience something for a work, I don’t try to find out why. I walk with emotion ” explains Philippe Austruy.
