Rock art
The cave of Niaux dates from the Magdalenian period (between 17 000 and 12 000 years) and contributed to make known Ariège in the whole world thanks to this parietal art. It is the largest decorated cave with those of Lascaux and Altamira. The walls are covered with black line drawings that specialists describe as a perfect mastery of the tool. Dozens of bison, horses or ibexes have been drawn with charcoal and painted with manganese oxide. The natural relief of the rock was used to emphasize the silhouette of the animal.
The painting
One woman stands out among the painters of Ariège; Mady de la Giraudière (1922-2018) devoted her life to drawing and painting influenced by nature. She exhibited from the end of the 50's to the beginning of the 70's becoming one of the great figures of naive art in France and in the world. Ryton Cazenave is a watercolorist from Fuxen who is used to Mediterranean landscapes, Ariege villages, the castle of Foix, and the great Pyrenean peaks. Alphonse Roubichou (1861-1938), an impressionist born in Pamiers was extremely prolific in his time. Joseph Bergès (1878-1956) was a specialist in portraits and still lifes. He created a monumental fresco in the Faculty of Law in Toulouse. A student of Bergès, André Regagnon (1902-1976) received numerous awards for his works tinged with gray, green and red. Although born in New York (!) René Gaston-Lagorre (1913-2004) had his studio in the Couserans and was a friend of Matisse, Picasso and Gauguin. He was a figurative painter and ended his career in abstract art. Pierre Daboval (1918-2015) painted until the 70's and devoted himself to drawing with a fantastic and erotic period and then self-portraits mixing humor and his vision of the world. Christian d'Orgeix (1927-2019) is the illustrious descendant of an ancient aristocratic family from Ariege and is considered close to surrealism and post-cubism. He devoted himself to sculpture by recycling found objects and painted pebbles.
The sculpture
Although some bones or horns have been found sculpted in the cave of Mas d'Azil in particular, the Ariege has not known great sculptors but there are two, contemporaries, that should be mentioned. Claudius de Cap Blanc, who defines himself as a "vulvo graphist", paints and sculpts vulvas wherever he can on rocks, trees, but also in public places... He was the creator of mobile pieces made of wood and metal, moving with pulleys and mechanisms, which can be seen at the Affabuloscope in Mas d'Azil. Nicolas Kessler is the creator of the superb work that can be seen at the top of the Villote alleys in Foix. Humanity represented by a naked woman carrying a globe between her legs, protected by a portico. His projects and his audacious and creative realizations are driven by the desire to see better and more just Men.
Cinema and Television
At the cinema, we can note The Return of Martin Guerre with Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye. This film tells the story of Arnaud du Tilh, who arrived in 1556 in the village of Artigat and usurped the identity of Martin Guerre, a local child, and duped his wife and the whole village. The film was a great success. The TV movie Les Cathares, in two episodes, was directed by Stellio Lorenzi in 1966 with Jean Topart. Its success made this part of French history and the Ariège castle of Montsegur known to the whole of France.
