Page 411 - Christian Maas Full Book

The African Farm

Sobriety and rigor are present in the construction of his grandparent’s farm’s itself: walls made of
grey stone, schist roof, raw material calling for austere thinking. A habitat in harmony with nature, suited

to protect man from harsh winters. For winters are long and white there, and both men and beasts get
closer to each other while waiting for spring to come.

However, cold isn’t a curse, on the contrary it gives earth a respite as well as it enables thinking.

Fire was crackling in the fireplace; the meal cooking slowly on the broken-down stove, animals dozing
in the warmth of the stable, and a little boy playing quietly with a piece of wood. What did it matter it

they were no toys? It sufficed that he could make them, a fertile imagination easily replaces abundance,
and absence creates excess.

Even if was not to really live in this humble hamlet made up of a few farms, it would seep into it

to the point of making it his own. Holidays he would spend besides his grandparents, but also with un-
cles, aunts and cousins; would remain like the image of his true roots. In Haute-Loire, nature is harsh,

sometimes even hostile; it was the price to pay. So it would be his perception of life. Everything had a
price; each harvest was the fruit of a hard labour, and waste could not be allowed because man had to

live in harmony with the nature that he dominated. But such nature, the artist knows how to make it his
own, and to be in communion with it to show its very essence. This explains how, through the creation

of simple objects, he would make his progressive discovery of art. As a child already, Christian seals a
pact with nature. He would use the raw materials which protect man, stone and wood, to create his own

universe... A little farm would arise, born his skilled fingers.

Already, his love for animals drove him to make some all for himself. At the farm, he took care of
the cattle and participated in everyday tasks. He led cows and chariots of all kinds during the haymaking

season and the harvest. Sometimes he let cows and goats escape from the pastures, which brought severe

Christian Maas 420 CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ Vol. II

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