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RATIER émile

[1894, Soturac, France — 1984, Soturac, France]

A farmer, timber merchant, and clog maker, Émile Ratier gradually lost his sight beginning in 1960, but managed to overcome this disability by producing a work of delightful ingenuity. Drawing on his memories, he assembled pieces of wood to create carts, wagons, and wheelbarrows, but also carousels, mills, music boxes, clocks, and Eiffel Towers. His constructions, designed to be touched and listened to, operate with cranks that set animals, bells, and swings in motion, and make blades and springs click. An enchanted, musical body of work, intended to entertain.