Exhibition title: L’enfance en France
Venue: Weekends, Paris, France
Date: September 27 – 30, 2017
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of Weekends
Note: Exhibition booklet can be found here
Sporting a spelunking outfit and with a flashlight in its hand, Weekends is proud to present the work of anonymous draughtswomen and men, sculptors and painters from prehistoric caves in current day France.
Grotte Chauvet (33,000 – 30,000 BP)
Grotte de Lascaux (17,000 BP)
Grotte de Niaux (17,000 – 11,000 BP)
Grotte de Pair-non-Pair (30.000 – 25.000 BP)
Grotte des Trois-Frères (14,000 BP)
and
Grotte du Mas d’Azil (16,000 BP)
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
Grotte des Trois-Frères, Panel of engravings on the right hand wall of the Sanctuary in Les Trois-Frères, ~14,000 BCE, Gouache on fabric
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
Grotte de Pair-non-Pair, Large Panel on the left wall of Galerie latérale, ~ 30,000 – 25,000 BCE, Single channel projection
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
Grotte des Trois-Frères, The Sorcerer, ~14,000 BCE
This representation of a human figure is located on the end wall of the room that forms the end of the lower floor of the cave, more than 400 meters from the entrance […]
It is about 75 cm high and 50 cm wide. It is fully engraved and the body parts are painted black. It seems that the paint was faded in some places, but the whole body was never painted. The forehead and eyes have traces of colour, as well as the lines delineating the nose. […]
A wide band marks the shoulders and back, another the belly. The legs are particularly carefully and well done. The left knee is indicated by a separate kneecap. The sexual organs shown thrust backwards, behind the buttocks, are strongly emphasised. Monsieur le comte Henri Bégouën, 1920, Translation: Don Hitchcock
Grotte des Trois-Frères, Phallic engraving, ~14,000 BCE
The phallus is situated in the middle of the first part of the right-hand wall, at 1.2 m from the floor. […]
Among the phallic representations recorded, the morphology seems realistic, although sometimes the dimensions are exaggerated, […]
only at les Trois-Frères do we find such an oversized representation. It is 59 cm in length, which may be compared to the other largest figure, a mammoth, which is only 53 cm. This disparity makes us wonder if the size is purely because of the space for it on the wall, or if the size is significant for other reasons. Monsieur le comte Henri Bégouën, 1920, Translation: Don Hitchcock
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
L’enfance en France, 2017, exhibition view, Weekends, Paris
Grotte de Lascaux, Megaloceros Giganteus painting, ~17,000 BCE
Grotte du Mas d’Azil, Bone phallus, ~16,000 BCE, Facsimile in oxe bone
Grotte Chauvet, Panel of the Horses, ~33,000 – 30,000 BCE
Grotte Chauvet, Panel of the Lions, ~33,000 – 30,000 BCE
Grotte Chauvet, Panel of the Lions, ~33,000 – 30,000 BCE
