Max Jacob praises Quimper - The Quimper dear to Max Jacob


The Frugy

On the Frugy

The mountain the other side ! It’s not very high, is it ? but it is green !

This coteau arborescent (arborescent slope), the poet tells about is the Frugy Hill, which is often mentioned in his poems together with the town and the river.

In front of the native home, the hillside was always for the poet an object of contemplation and inspiration.



Max Jacob converted to catholicism after an apparition. He used to go to the cathedral of Quimper (Our cathedral) in order to pray.

The poet praised this building, set up between the XIIIth and the XVIIth century, with touching emotion.

Never, in the deep sorrows my life is made of, did I have the idea of prostrating myself anywhere else. (Confessions)

 The cathedral



I entered that fantastic museum of Quimper with endless faith and love, the way you enter a cathedral.


Though it is not often mentioned in Max Jacob’s poetry, the poet often used to go to Quimper museum, which shows his deep love for art.
The Museum of Fine Arts

He even compared painters to half-gods !
We, children from Quimper, saw painters before we saw a painting. We respected painting even before we discovered other sorts of art existed.

The few years he spent at the Bateau Lavoir (the Boat Wash-House), in Paris, Max Jacob became the friend of Picasso, Reverdy, Juan Gris...





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