This shapeshifting 20th-century artist built a monument to his imagination in the Mayenne département that is now the Musée de Robert Tatin.

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Buried in the bucolic landscape of Mayenne in the Pays-de-la-Loire, just a twenty-minute drive from the charming riverside town of Château-Gontier, is the truly unique Musée de Robert Tatin.  

If you’re unfamiliar with this 20th-century French outsider artist, then what lies at the end of the leafy, gravel walk to the museum’s front entrance is surprising, to say the least.  

The concept of ‘immersion’ is somewhat on trend, whether immersion in virtual reality or while puzzling an escape room with friends. Arriving at Tatin’s former home, you understand that this French construction worker-cum-globetrotting art sensation was an immersive trailblazer. His greatest work of art, created near to his rustic birthplace, is a truly immersive experience, both narcissistic and universal in its intent.   

Restless talent 

Tatin’s pathway into the world of art was, like the man himself, unconventional. Born in Laval in 1902, he had a working-class upbringing. His father was employed by the local circus, both as a carnie and a performer. The surreal and colourful circus environment would come to shape Tatin’s character as well as influence his vivid, playful artworks.  

His career in painting began prosaically when he became an apprentice painter and decorator. In 1918, he moved to Paris, where he studied drawing and painting at various free academies in the capital. After four years of study, he completed military service before returning to the Mayenne with the first of his five wives – Marcelle.  

During this period, he supported himself as a handyman and carpenter. This practical, hands-on experience would be vital for the concrete sculpture that he later specialised in, and which is so impressively on display at the museum.

International Travel 

By 1930, Tatin had built up a successful business. His artistic eye combined with his practical experience equated to commercial success. With the Tatin coffers overflowing, so began the start of his international travels through Europe, North Africa, and New York. 

With the onset of the Second World War he was recruited as an engineer, but by 1940 he had returned to his hometown and his flourishing business. From 1945, his art began to take precedence over his commercial work. He opened a ceramics workshop in the Marais in Paris, and during this period was credited with contributing to the revitalisation of cultural life in the capital. As he did so, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of André Breton, Jean Cocteau, and Alberto Giacometti.  

In 1950, Tatin made his most significant move, living in and exploring South America. For five years, he studied Amerindian culture, which would come to have a profound influence upon his art.  

The Strange Museum 

Having returned to France and attracted acclaim with his paintings rich with symbolism and colour, he moved, aged 60, to a dilapidated country house in La Frénouse, near Laval. Here, with the help of his fifth wife, Lise, he began an ambitious “art environment” project that would take them over twenty years to complete. 

Combining his construction nous with his artistic vision, Tatin created a hallucinatory edifice around his home: a concrete temple, inscribed with bas-reliefs and esoteric symbols, intended as a monument to mankind, nature, and the dance of time.  

As you arrive through the barn that doubles as the museum’s entrance, you first encounter an 80-metre avenue lined with concrete totems. These represent Tatin’s various influences, and include surreal depictions of Rembrandt, Picasso, and Breton, among others. After admiring these so-called ‘Giants’, you make your way to Tatin’s modified country home and his grave set out front. Vying for your attention, however, is the Mayan-influenced compound nearby, guarded by a 13-foot-tall Asian Dragon statue. 

Within the walls of this sculptural compound is a tranquil Garden of Meditations. Constructed in the shape of a cross, it contains a pool encircled by statues that represent the months of the year. The entire building has been built on an east-west axis, with Gateways to the Sun and Moon on each side. As you ponder its meaning, immersed in Tatin’s imagination, you find your way into a gallery of his work. Here you come to understand the breadth of Tatin’s talent as a painter, ceramicist, and even as a clothing designer.  

A short film, shown on demand, helps visitors to decode the artist’s life and work. For €6 visitors can undertake an hour-long guided tour; this is also the only way to see inside the artist’s mosaic-clad house, now designated a national ‘Maison des Illustres’. Tatin passed in 1983 and, restless to the end, had been engaged in modifying his extraordinary ‘museum’ right up until his death.

For more information, visit patrimoine.lamayenne.fr/robert-tatin/ 

Entry tickets from: €4 for adults. Children are free.