Egyptian Surrealist Mohsen L Belasy Mourns Tragic Fire at Historic André Breton House

The Egyptian surrealist artist Mohsen L Belasy expressed his sorrow and grief over what happened to the historic André Breton House in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. “The beloved place, with which we shared a partnership that lasted for five years, was struck by a massive and tragic fire. I offer my condolences to my dear friends and brothers from the Maison André Breton – La Rose Impossible team. I fully understand and hope that, as an international surrealist movement, we can unite to support this beloved place to which I feel a strong professional and personal attachment. I also extend my sympathy to my dear friend Laurent Doucet, the director of the André Breton House, and I know that they will overcome this sad situation.”

Here is the report on the disaster, as appeared in Belasy’s FB Page:

 

Maison Breton: “We Tried to Save What Could Be Saved”

A fire broke out around 9 PM this Monday at the International Center for Surrealism in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Fortunately, most of the artworks were saved.

Without intending a pun, the scene was surreal. It was 9:20 PM on Monday, March 3, when Clément Gaësler, 27, the curator of the Maison André-Breton in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, received a call from the town’s deputy mayor:
“She told me that the surveillance system had just reported a possible break-in,” the young man recalls. In the night, he rushed to the scene and saw “a huge mist,” the smoke from the fire that had just broken out.

At that moment, it was all hands on deck. Some deputies, the mayor, and a few alerted residents rushed to the site:
“Since I’m a shopkeeper and the town hall knows I have fire extinguishers, they called me,” recounts one of them. Four of them joined Clément to try to contain the flames, which were mainly localized on the ground floor of the museum, near the reproduction of the poet’s trunk, where a few art objects were displayed.
“We used a nearby water tank and took turns with buckets, trying to put out the flames we could see,” the curator continues.

Meanwhile, they managed to grab as many artworks as possible, sometimes at the risk of getting electrocuted or burned.
“We tried to save what could be saved. But very quickly, we understood that we couldn’t do much,” recounts Frédéric Decremps, the mayor of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
“We unrolled some hoses we had in reserve and waited for the firefighters.”

The firefighters arrived gradually, coming from Cabrerets, Labastide-Murat, Limogne-en-Quercy, Cahors, and even Cajarc. Mostly volunteer firefighters, nearly sixty of them were on-site with 17 vehicles. It was a significant deployment, justified by the risk of the flames spreading to a building located right in the center of the small village with its remarkable architecture. By 11:20 PM, the fire was under control.

Memories photographed

“Ten Years of Work Could Have Gone Up in Smoke”

Yesterday morning, forensic technicians were investigating to determine the cause of the fire. Although the surveillance system was triggered, it could have been due to either a break-in or the smoke from the flames. The building, which had successively belonged to Henri Martin and André Breton and was classified as a historical monument, had been renovated in May 2024.

Fortunately, according to the curator, 95% of the artworks were saved. A sculpture by Michel Dintrich, a part of Breton’s pipe, and two works by Lou Dubois and Ody Saban were reportedly destroyed in the flames. The artworks spared by the fire are covered in soot but have been safely stored at Maison Rignault, located nearby.

“It’s ten years of work that could have gone up in smoke,” commented the emotional mayor, adding that the house, inaugurated only in 2023, housed some artworks created by children from the Saint-Étienne school complex in Cahors.
“When you see the flames, it’s hard. But we’re going to keep going and not let ourselves be discouraged.”

Valentin Pacaud