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Le Parc Gulbenkian / Deauville-Bénerville, jardin ré-inventé puis imaginé par Saint-John Perse by Philippe NORMAND – Château de Bénouville
The Gulbenkian / Deauville-Bénerville park, a garden reinvented then imagined by Saint-John Perse
The Gulbenkian Park in Deauville-Bénerville is the work of the esthete and the landscaper who designed the site in 1937. Initiated in 1946, its restoration was at the heart of correspondence between Calouste Gulbenkian, the site’s owner, and the poet and diplomat Saint-John Perse, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 and an expert in botanics.
One of the greatest fortunes of his time and one of the most prolific 20th century art collectors, Calouste Gulbenkian designed ‘A garden in his own manner’ as from 1937, within a 34-hectare park created in the 18th century and located near Deauville.
From 1946 to 1954, 89 letters were exchanged between Alexis Léger, aka Saint-John Perse – future Nobel Prize winner – and Calouste Gulbenkian. This epistolary conversation covered a range of geopolitical issues with regard to the Cold War and a number of considerations pertaining to the restoration of the Parc des Enclos, a park that had suffered great damage during the occupation. Saint-John Perse, the poet who wrote Oiseaux (Birds), proved to be an expert, both in botanics and in landscaping. An avid connoisseur of Normandy and its climate, following his frequent visits to Varengeville, he advised and offered pertinent suggestions for the site’s arrangement and plantations.
Philippe Normand
In charge of cultural projects for the Deauville Town Council, Philippe Normand strives to promote the resort’s cultural heritage. A Caen University lecturer from January 2010 to June 2018, he is the author of: Le Goût de Deauville, Le Mercure de France (2014), and contributed towards the drafting of Les écrivains du Calvados (collective work), (2nd edition) by Editions Alexandrines (2014), and Les écrivains de Seine-Maritime (collective work) by Editions Alexandrines (2007). He also occasionally writes for La revue d’Histoire du Théâtre, Le Magazine littéraire and Les Cahiers des Amis de Valentin Brù. (Magazine published by the Association nationale des amis de Raymond Queneau).