Le jardin pittoresque du désert de Retz, une hétérotopie au siècle des Lumières by Laurent FOURQUIÉ – Château de Bénouville (France)
The picturesque garden of the Désert de Retz, an Age of Enlightenment heterotopia
It is one of the most emblematic of France’s remaining Anglo-Chinese gardens, much in vogue from 1760 to 1820. It surprises as much as it enchants, through the originality and the abundance of the themes its creator, François Racine de Monville, developed there from 1774 to the French Revolution. Located in Chambourcy in the Yvelines department, it invites visitors on a journey through time and space, to discover all the civilisations that left their mark on human thought. Follies depicting distant lands are associated with rare and exotic plants, to form successive images that echo with each other. Several seemingly incompatible areas intermingle to form a heterotopia, anticipating the concept elaborated by Michel Foucault two hundred years later.
Laurent Fourquié
His long-time interest in history, architectural heritage and history of art, led Laurent Fourquié to focus particularly on the Désert de Retz as from 1988, where he became a volunteer guide in 1995. This service also includes research into the estate’s history and other picturesque gardens from the same period. Through his involvement with the local history association, HISCREA (Histoire de Chambourcy, de Retz d’Aigremont), then with the Désert de Retz, Jardin des Lumières association, which coordinates the site’s activities, he has given conferences, organised exhibitions and tours, and written articles and books on the heritage of Chambourcy and the surrounding area: Hennemont, l’éminent lieu-dit de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (2005) ; L’église de Chambourcy, histoire et patrimoine (2007 with Pierre-Émile Renard) ; Le désert de Retz endormi à travers le regard d’artistes 1923 – 1960 (2009 with Pierre-Émile Renard) ; De la seigneurie de Fourqueux à la villa Collin (2010) ; La ferme du Manoir de Chambourcy et son dernier exploitant (2011) ; L’abbaye de Joyenval et les reliques de sainte Clotilde (2014) ; Le désert de Retz dans les années 1920 (2014) ; La Maison chinoise du désert de Retz (2019) ; Des tabatières en ivoire, premier produit dérivé du désert de Retz ? (2022).