LES MUSICALES DE CHEVREUSE – SAINT-MARTIN CHURCH

March 22–24, 1991

In 1991, GRATALOUP was invited to participate in the inaugural edition of the Musicales de Chevreuse, a cultural event conceived to bring together music and the visual arts within the remarkable setting of Saint-Martin Church, a thirteenth-century Gothic landmark in the historic center of Chevreuse. Held annually from 1991 to 1993, the festival offered the residents of the Chevreuse Valley a unique artistic experience, where concerts and exhibitions shared the same historic space.

At the invitation of Philippe Dugue, Mayor of Chevreuse, GRATALOUP presented his Stations of the Cross, a major cycle created between 1975 and 1985. Installed within the church, the series established a profound dialogue with its sacred architecture. Rather than offering a traditional narrative representation of the Passion, the artist proposed a deeply symbolic interpretation in which color, light, and matter became the true vehicles of spiritual contemplation.

This exhibition marked the beginning of a lasting relationship between GRATALOUP and the town of Chevreuse. In 2005, he inaugurated the newly restored Séchoir à Peaux cultural center with an exhibition devoted to his Little Bridges and Trees series. In 2011, he created the contemporary stained-glass windows for the chapel of the Priory of Saint-Saturnin, permanently integrating his work into the town's architectural heritage. Finally, in 2022, the opening of the GRATALOUP Museum within the Priory crowned more than three decades of close ties between the artist and Chevreuse, establishing the town as the principal center for the preservation and promotion of his work