Arts & Feu - Association Robert Barriot

The true framework of his work is human condition
The reason why it touches us so deeply is that
it reflects the essence of our nature,
our questions and our misgivings.

Robert Barriot has illustrated "Les Galériens" (Galley-slaves), a poem by Constant Hubert, by a series of non-enamelled copper sheets. These illustrations in tune with the words of the poet, undoubtedly embodies the core of his vision of the world and of Man’s place in it.

	The eye’s of Barriot’s characters are invariably protruding and whether anxious or evasive, they are always the first thing that attracts us. Haunted by the breathtaking giddiness of their glassy reflections, they inexorably mesmerise our own gaze, like questions without answers. There is one, especially, which epitomises all of human questioning and pain. He is "Oedipe" (0.70m x 0.60m), his eyes gorged out and whose mouth, twisted by indescribable sufferings, seems to be silently screaming protestations. In his empty orbits, in the grooves and the engraved lines of the copper, the enamel flows in small rivers of fire.
Fire is one of the keys in Robert Barriot’s creation, which draw their complexity from flames. Fire in all of its forms, whether the one that burns and destroys or the one that warms, the one that slowly crackles in the fireplace and the uncontrollable one that stirs up passions. Belying the figures, almost underneath the surface, it is still the fire that gives life to matter. An unending volcanic flow, which lights up the copper, loses itself in iridescence, exploding in a bouquet of sparks. This fire is the life and soul of Barriot’s characters. It consumed him in the course of more than 50 years of creation, 50 years of a life entirely devoted to his art.

Robert Barriot died in pauper in 1970
He never agreed to sell any of his enamels.
Even in need, he couldn’t bring himself to part with them for the ridiculously low prices he was offered.
He never mingled with mundane crowds of commercial artists and their machinations.

The history of art books did not recognise him either. He probably did not mind, for even if he was a man of letters, he was not a man of encyclopaedias. If this injustice is ever rectified, that will be the time for critics to analyse his work. This will undoubtedly bring forth controversy. Craftsman or artist? Minor or major one? Medieval or contemporary?

Some will praise the technique, others the expression. His work is so complex that it cries out for debate. There will be searches, questions and attempts to understand. Robert Barriot is no longer here to guide us but the light of the enamels may help.

Today, the treasure of over 200 pieces which is his life’s work, rests in the family home. On these walls hang the immense copper screens which are now pleading to be given space and light, to be viewed and to challenge today’s craftsmen and artists to contemplate them, but not necessarily agree with, and to search the mysterious internal fire.
This fire that brought this man, a wanderer of centuries, to transcend matter and, by blowing on the embers, brought a long-forgotten art form back to life.