James Bouillé

James Bouillé (14 February 1894 – 22 June 1945) was a French architect based in Brittany.

Biography

Bouillé was born in Guingamp (Côtes-d'Armor) He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, until he was mobilized after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. After the war, he became a member of the Breton nationalist political movement Breiz Atao.

He was one of the founders in 1923 of the artistic movement Seiz Breur, along with Jeanne Malivel and René-Yves Creston. His aim was to revitalise Breton sacred art: crosses, votive objects and traditional crafts. He also designed and supported pottery, ceramics, embroidery and cabinetmaking. Between 1924 and 1935, he was an architect in Perros-Guirec, where he developed a successful practice building holiday villas.

In 1929 he joined with Xavier de Langlais to found An Droellen, a workshop of Breton Christian art. The duo worked closely together on a number of projects, including the college chapel of St. Joseph in Lannion. The workshop included among its members Mlle Ménard (glazier), Madame Planiol (restoration of priestly vestments) and Jules-Charles Le Bozec (sculptor).

In the late 1930s Bouillé created the Chapel of Koat-Keo in Scrignac (Finistère), built at the initiative of his friend Abbot Jean-Marie Perrot, founder of the Breton Catholic youth organization Bleun-Brug, which promoted traditional Breton culture. The chapel is seen as a significant attempt to create a distinctive modern Breton sacred architecture.[1]

During the World War II, Perrot and Breun-Blug were suspected of collaborationist activity. In 1941, Bouillé was made director of Bleun-Brug and sat on the Advisory Committee of Brittany, as its representative. The Committee was seen by resistance activists as part of the collaborationist régime. At this time he advocated a radical plan to build a new Breton capital city to be called "Brittia", which would be a "Celtic Brasilia" on the shores of Lake Guerlédan.[2] Due to his association with Perrot and the committee, he was interned after the Liberation of France. He died in 1945, as a result of his internment.

In Brittany, at least nine streets bear his name.[3]

Major buildings
  • 1933: holiday home, known as Kelenn, 18 chemin de Quo-Vadis, subdivision of Tourony-plage at Tégastel
  • 1936-1937: Chapelle de l'Institution Saint-Joseph (in fact Saint-Joseph college) in Lannion
  • 1937: Chapel Koat-Keo at Scrignac, created for the Abbot Perrot, with sculptures by Jules-Charles Le Bozec. (This building was designated as a Monument historique in 1997).
  • 1938: Extension to the chapelle de Ploumanac'h, commune de Perros-Guirec 1938
  • 1939: maison de villégiature (holiday home), known as Avel Dro, 2 rue du Belvédère à Trestrignel, commune de Perros-Guirec.

Publications
  • Sketla Segobrani. 3 levr moulet e ti René Prud'homme. Saint-Brieuc, (1923), 3 volumes (with François Vallée, Meven Mordiern, Émile Ernault)
  • Sketla segobrani kenta nevrenn: dis atir, teutatis. Prud'homme - Saint-Brieuc (1923).
  • Sketla segobrani eil kevrenn: trede levr: lugus. Prud'homme - Saint-Brieuc (1923).
  • De l'art celtique et de l'utilité de son étude pour la création d'un art breton moderne. Buhez Breiz - Quimper (1924). Paper delivered at the congress of Bleun Brug at Lesneven l12 September 1923.
  • L'art en Bretagne. Éditions de Buhez Breiz (1924). Paper delivered at the Panceltic Congress, Quimper, 9 September 1924.
  • Sketla segobrani pevare [trede] kevrenn: tanaris, esus. Prud'homme - Saint-Brieuc (1925).
  • Habitation bretonne. Massin Ch. et Cie - Paris (1926). The Regional Art of France
  • L'architecture bretonne moderne. Éditions Romanance - Paris (1936).
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References
  1. Ministry of Culture, Merimée. Monuments historiques: Chapelle de Koat-Keo
  2. Hervé Le Boterf, La Bretagne dans la guerre, Volume 3, p. 320
  3. Les Noms qui ont fait l'histoire de Bretagne, Coop Breizh et Institut culturel de Bretagne, 1997

Bibliography

Audaces et hésitations d'un militant: James Bouillé, Pierre Mardaga - Liege. 1986.

Catalogue of the exhibition: Modernité et régionalisme: Bretagne : 1918 - 1945.

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