It was in 1969 that Holland first visited le Mas Gouge in the Gard department of France. His friends, the architect Joe Chamberlain and Christoph Bonn and Joe's wife Jean had bought a semi-ruined fortified farmhouse in the South of France and kept saying to Holland that he must visit it. That year he said he might, and while the initial stop on the family holiday to France was in Normandy, the weather was so foul that as a family we decided that heading south seemed like a good idea.
After a dodgy stop at the Pont de Menard on the way down, we arrived at what became our idea of paradise - why did we even spend a weekend in Normandy before making the acquaintance of our spiritual home?
The instructions that came with the house and the trousseau of keys were impressive. Much was written about the electrics, but as the Mas was not then and still has not been connected to the mains, electricity was via a generator that refused to work for us. However the place was well equipped with gas lights, a gas cooker, a gas fridge and candles, all serving to make it that much more special.
We visited many times after that - we were there when Elvis died for example, but have not been back since Jean died in 1997. If you google Mas Gouge, you turn up some images that other artists have been inspired to make of the Mas, but I think the following images are better (well I would) and give a hint of the magic of a very special place.
[Mas Gouge with vines, oil on board, 1970, in a private collection]
[Approaching the Mas, ink sketch]
[Mas Gouge through the great gates, watercolour sketch]
[Mas Gouge, la maison d'entree, ink sketch]
[Mas Gouge, in the courtyard, ink and monochrome wash sketch]
[Mas Gouge from within the vines, ink and watercolour sketch]