100% creation
Antoine Amarger, creativity at the service of sculpture restoration
Audio 05:34
Antoine Amarger © RFI/Maria Afonso
By: Maria Afonso
4 mins
Antoine Amarger, restorer of metal sculptures, works in the domain of the Palace of Versailles.
The estate has 3,741 sculptures.
Busts, figures, vases of marble, bronze or lead.
In the gardens, there are 824 sculptures. This makes the Palace of Versailles one of the largest open-air museums in the world.
Antoine Amarger is a restorer of metal sculptures.
Its mission: the conservation and restoration of the sculpture collections of the Palace of Versailles.
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Louis XIV had very specific ideas about what he wanted, it wasn't just make me something beautiful.
Antoine Amarger, restorer of metal sculptures.
At 15, he began his training at the Boulle school in Paris.
This apprenticeship, at a very young age, gave him gestural ease in practical work.
Then, after his CAP in bronze carving, he entered decorative arts to have a more creative vision of his profession.
At 30, he discovered the restaurant training school.
After this school, he worked at the Louvre Museum and the Rodin Museum.
Antoine Amarger, restorer of metal sculptures © Alejandra Rubinich
Antoine Amarger works with metals and in particular bronze on imposing sculptures outdoors but always in connection with a cultural context.
"
There are always choices to be made, which are linked to a political context, but what I like above all is the artistic aspect.
This may seem a little contradictory in relation to restoration issues, but at the moment, for example, we are looking for solutions for golden surface effects for outdoor sculptures.
The classic gilding with gold leaf which gives a flashy appearance but which does not make it possible to highlight the appearance of the sculpture's modelling.
Originally, the sculptures were painted with Bronzine, that is to say a golden paint.
I am trying to develop a process with a more modern product that is more stable over time than Bronzine.
I gather everyone's opinion, I make suggestions, I'm delighted, it's really pleasant.
»
Antoine Amarger, sculpture installation at the Palace of Versailles © Maria Afonso
From the start of his career, Antoine Amarger developed international experience.
“
It happened a bit by chance, there weren't many people to do the surface treatment on the bronzes.
I worked with companions of duty, in Canada, at the moment, I work rather in South America.
I met a Brazilian sculptor, we worked in São Paulo in very good conditions, then afterwards with a Brazilian colleague in Porto Alegre.
I had a lot of foreign trainees too.
In Porto Alegre, I
trained
people on the spot
.
If
I can contribute something, it's always in terms of exchange: I learn, I receive as much as I give.
»
Sculpture of the Plat Fond Basin - Grand Trianon © Maria Afonso
His job is an experience in the form of exchanges and according to Antoine Amarger, there is a certain freedom of interpretation in the context of restoration work.
“
It's like music, there is an interpretation side.
It's really an important part of the job.
The statue is brown, we can put it in green.
This supposes having an idea, an objective towards which to move and to assume the contemporaneity of our current interventions.
This combines technical, artistic and also diplomatic notions.
Have ideas, share them and turn them into something functional.
»
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