In Biot, the house-workshop of ceramist Jacky Coville could soon become a museum
A short walk from the village center hides a treasure. Behind the wrought iron gate at 16 Impasse des Roses, in Biot, time has stood still. Art, however, remains very much alive. Upon entering the garden, dozens of sculptures, each more monumental and colorful than the last, stand in disorganized harmony. Totems with tribal motifs, benches sculpted with organic shapes, and even an impressive sea serpent divided into five distinct parts: all these unique pieces were created in a gigantic gas kiln, without a thermostat, which sits sheltered at the back of the property. In the garden's first workshop, a mix of wooden workbenches on the verge of collapsing under the weight of the tools above them, Nice-Matin newspapers from the early 2000s, drawings plastered on the doors of a wardrobe, and more or less finished ceramics scattered throughout.
Jacky Coville, a sculptor and ceramist now 89 years old, infirm and living in a retirement home, lived – and worked for the last time in 2023 – in this house-studio. "In the 1970s, while an aeronautical engineer, he gave up everything, decided to become a potter and took his wife and children to settle in the south," explains Valérie Gaidoz, president of the Association of Friends of Jacky Coville. Initially living in Coaraze, "he decided to move closer to the sea and heard from an artist from Biot that Roland Brice, Fernand Léger's ceramist, was putting his studio up for sale. He was initially seduced by the view, because you could see the sea and the Cap d'Antibes. Then, when he saw the kiln, the question no longer arose [...] he ended up settling there in 1976," explains the director of the association.
Entering the workshop on the first floor of the house is like traveling back in time. The first of the three adjoining rooms is "the workshop in which he took care of the small finishing touches," she explains. A few ceramic pieces litter the tops of the workbenches, between jars of enamel and a pair of glasses, patched up with clay, a touching detail that speaks volumes about the ingenuity of the master of the house. "The enamel is like a powder. When you add water, it creates a paste [...] for example, this is certainly a very bright red," explains Valérie Gaidoz, a small container filled with a pastel pink powder in hand. Everywhere, everything seems to have remained in its place, as if the artist had just put down his tools for a few minutes of rest.
The last of the three rooms is striking for its verticality. Jacky Coville's office is bathed in almost zenithal light thanks to huge windows that look directly onto the garden. At the back, the entire wall disappears beneath a huge bookcase filled with all kinds of books, and at the center of which sits the legendary office chair that Jacky Coville himself sculpted. A truly ergonomic structure that perfectly matches the posture of its creator. "You can try it ," says the association's director. "It's impossible to move it forward or backward, but you're very comfortable in it."
A museum project to save the work and the placeThe Association of Friends of the Artist has an ambitious dream: to create a true living museum, a project estimated at 2.75 million euros. "We're missing the cash, the lifeblood of the war," sighs the president, while specifying that she has finalized a sponsorship application in English to attract international sponsors.
The project plans to keep the studio almost intact, while creating a patio for events, artist residencies, and even a restaurant space. The urgency is almost palpable. "If he [Jacky Coville] disappears , his heirs will recover his works, but where will they go?" she worries. The artist's son, although in favor of the museum project, "doesn't feel like carrying it on," but "will not give up his legacy." The solution? Quickly find a patron to acquire the house and collection, for a total of 1.2 million euros. "The dream would be for a Bioitois or someone from the region to fall in love with the project."
The Biot town hall supports the initiative and has already acquired the adjoining land. "This acquisition, made with the town's own funds, was not made specifically with a view to the future Jacky Coville museum, but because this land benefits from a strategic location, next to the residence. It could, in the long term, contribute to the development of this cultural project," explains the municipality.
Valérie Gaidoz coordinated the publication of a book retracing both the work of Jacky Coville and the history of his studio. The book, published last July and edited by the association with the help of a graphic designer, delves into the artistic saga of these walls, from Fernand Léger, who returned from the United States with his dreams of murals, to Roland Brice, who helped him realize them, to Jacky Coville, who perpetuated the magic of the place.
The artist himself was able to discover the book: "He leafs through it for part of the day, it must bring back beautiful memories," confides Valérie Gaidoz, visibly moved. All profits from the sale of the book are donated to the Association of Friends of the Artist.
"Jacky Coville, the heritage of the earth", 191 pages, 70 euros.
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