The Palace of Versailles, a royal chateau known for its overabundance of luxury, is now accented with a scattered set of sculptures by Italian artist Giuseppe Penone that celebrate the beauty of nature. Penone’s large-scale sculptural installations, which are all composed of natural materials (primarily wood and stone), are set up like markers in the Park of the vast estate while lending their own intriguing take on the shapes and interactions within nature.
Like his past work, Penone’s latest additions, some of which are created specifically for Versailles, present a new and uncommon silhouette of trees. The sculptor takes something that we’re all familiar with and is associated with “nature” and transforms it enough to both retain its natural element and display something that has been altered by man. The artist says, “What interests me is when the work of man starts to become nature.”
Penone’s sculptures are currently on display along the royal walk that leads in a long perspective from the Palace to the Grand Canal and also in the Star Grove at Versailles through October 30, 2013.
Photo credit: Tadzio
Chteau de Versailles website
via [let’s build a home, domus]