Coubertin Foundation

The Coubertin Foundation, or Fondation de Coubertin, is a French charitable foundation based at the Coubertin estate in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, in the Chevreuse Valley. Its work joins two closely related activities: the transmission of practical skills in manual arts and crafts, and the preservation and presentation of modern sculpture. The foundation’s educational purpose is to help young people develop technical competence, respect for quality workmanship, honesty, and professional responsibility. The institution grew out of a relationship formed in 1949 between Yvonne de Coubertin, a niece of Pierre de Coubertin who owned the estate, and Jean Bernard, an artist and restorer associated with the Companionship of Duty and the Tour of France. Jean Bernard was the son of the sculptor Joseph Bernard. In 1950, Yvonne de Coubertin and Jean Bernard created an association intended to transmit knowledge of manual occupations, including carpentry, cabinetmaking, stonecutting, masonry, plasterwork, metalwork, and painting. The organization was subsequently constituted as the Fondation de Coubertin in 1973 and received tax-exempt charitable status. The foundation provides professional training through masters’ workshops and accepts approximately 30 apprentices each year, most of them coming from the Workers’ Association of Companions of Duty and Tour of France. Its Saint-Jacques workshops cover metalwork, carpentry, and stonecutting. The Coubertin Foundry provides instruction in metalwork and cast-art techniques. These activities are connected to conservation, architectural restoration, and the production of substantial works. Among the projects associated with the workshops is the complete reconstruction of the royal gate at the Palace of Versailles as it existed before 1771. In 2008, the foundry completed Jean Cardot’s Flame of Liberty for the Embassy of the United States in Paris. The foundation operates on an approximately 80-hectare estate containing a late-seventeenth-century château, gardens, an English-style park, workshops, and museum spaces. The château was listed as a historical monument by decree in 1945. The sculpture collection is displayed in the palace and in an outdoor sculpture setting known as the Jardin des Bronzes. The collection includes works from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with artists represented such as Robert Wlérick, Pablo Gargallo, Carlo Sarrabezolles, Jean Chauvin, Étienne Hajdu, Marta Pan, Jean Cardot, Étienne Martin, Parvine Curie, Karel, Dominique Labauvie, and John Kelly. A major part of the collection came from Jean Bernard, who donated 21 sculptures and approximately 1,500 drawings by his father, Joseph Bernard. In 1994, the foundation also acquired the workshop holdings of the sculptor René Collamarini. Further works came through a donation from the Bourdelle Museum and through other additions. Architect Robert Auzelle designed the open-air sculpture museum around the collection. The foundation has also organized exhibitions devoted to individual sculptors, the history of direct carving, sculpture and drawing, and exchanges between historical and contemporary practices. Its activities therefore span craft education, architectural and artistic production, heritage preservation, museum interpretation, and cultural programming.

The Coubertin Foundation originated in the postwar revival of interest in skilled manual work, artistic craftsmanship, and the preservation of France’s built and cultural heritage. In 1949, Yvonne de Coubertin, a niece of Pierre de Coubertin and owner of the Coubertin estate at Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, met Jean Bernard. Bernard was an artist and a renovator associated with the Companionship of Duty and the Tour of France; he was also the only child of the sculptor Joseph Bernard. Their shared interest in transmitting practical and artistic knowledge led to the creation of an association in 1950. The association was designed to pass on skills in a broad range of manual occupations. Its fields included carpentry, cabinetmaking, stonecutting, masonry, plasterwork, metalwork, and painting. Rather than treating craft as only a production activity, the organization linked technical ability to personal discipline, responsibility, and standards of workmanship. This educational philosophy remains central to the foundation’s purpose. In 1973, the association became the Fondation de Coubertin and obtained tax-exempt charitable status. The foundation’s training model is based on work in professional workshops under experienced practitioners. It accepts about 30 apprentices in a typical year, with most drawn from the Workers’ Association of Companions of Duty and Tour of France. The Saint-Jacques workshops focus on metalwork, carpentry, and stonecutting, while the Coubertin Foundry specializes in metalwork and cast art. The workshops have also undertaken projects that demonstrate how training, restoration, and public heritage can be combined. One cited undertaking was the complete reconstruction of the royal gate at Versailles in the form it had before 1771. In 2008, the foundry completed Jean Cardot’s Flame of Liberty for the United States Embassy in Paris. The estate itself provides the foundation with an architectural and landscape setting for both education and cultural activity. Covering about 80 hectares in the Chevreuse Valley, it includes a late-seventeenth-century château, a formal approach and gardens, and an English-style park. The château was designated a historical monument in 1945. The estate’s spaces accommodate the foundation’s collections, workshops, and exhibitions. The museum component developed substantially through the relationship between Jean Bernard and his father’s legacy. Jean Bernard donated 21 sculptures and around 1,500 drawings by Joseph Bernard to the foundation. In 1994, the workshop holdings of René Collamarini were added. The foundation also received a donation from the Bourdelle Museum and assembled works by a range of sculptors active from the late nineteenth century through the twentieth century. Artists represented in the collection include Robert Wlérick, Pablo Gargallo, Carlo Sarrabezolles, Jean Chauvin, Étienne Hajdu, Marta Pan, Jean Cardot, Étienne Martin, Parvine Curie, Karel, Dominique Labauvie, and John Kelly. Architect Robert Auzelle organized an open-air sculpture museum around the collection. Known as the Jardin des Bronzes, it extends the museum experience into the estate’s landscape and makes sculpture part of the foundation’s architectural and natural environment. The foundation has presented exhibitions on twentieth-century sculpture, direct carving, Joseph Bernard, and numerous individual artists. The documented exhibition program includes presentations devoted to Jean Chauvin, Étienne Hajdu, Étienne Martin, Marta Pan, Jean Cardot, Eugène Dodeigne, Nicolas Alquin, Ousmane Sow, Antoine Poncet, and Denis Monfleur, alongside exhibitions involving Rodin, David d’Angers, and drawings by Joseph Bernard. Through these combined activities, the Coubertin Foundation has maintained a distinctive institutional identity: it is neither solely a vocational school nor solely a museum. Its mission treats the manual arts, artistic creation, restoration, and cultural heritage as connected forms of knowledge. The foundation’s estate, workshops, and collections provide a setting in which apprentices can learn practical techniques while visitors encounter sculpture and the history of craftsmanship.

• 2008

  Flame of Liberty completed

  [1]Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Coubertin Foundry completed Jean Cardot’s Flame of Liberty for the United States Embassy in Paris.

• 1994

  René Collamarini workshop holdings added

  [1]Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation added the workshop funds of sculptor René Collamarini to its collections.

• 1986

  Exhibition program begins in documented record

  [1]Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation presented an exhibition devoted to twentieth-century sculpture, beginning the documented series of major exhibitions listed in the reference material.

• 1973

  Foundation constituted

  [1]Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The original association became the Fondation de Coubertin and acquired tax-exempt charitable status.

• 1950

  Craft-training association established

  [1]Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  An association was created to transmit practical skills in manual arts and crafts, including carpentry, cabinetmaking, stonecutting, masonry, plasterwork, metalwork, and painting.

• 1949

  Yvonne de Coubertin meets Jean Bernard

  [1]Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The meeting between estate owner Yvonne de Coubertin and artist and craftsman Jean Bernard established the relationship that led to the foundation’s creation.

A heritage-oriented French foundation that connects hands-on craft education with sculpture conservation, museum activity, and the production or restoration of significant architectural and artistic works.

• Vocational education · 1950

  Apprenticeship and craft training

  The foundation provides practical professional training for young people in traditional manual arts. Apprentices work in masters’ workshops and are taught both technical methods and professional values, including care for workmanship, honesty, and responsibility. Around 30 apprentices are accepted in a typical year, most through the Workers’ Association of Companions of Duty and Tour of France.

• Craft workshops

  Saint-Jacques workshops

  The Saint-Jacques workshops provide instruction and project work in metalwork, carpentry, and stonecutting. Their activities connect traditional techniques with restoration and architectural work. The workshops are associated with the complete reconstruction of the royal gate at the Palace of Versailles in the form it had before 1771.

• Foundry and cast art

  Coubertin Foundry

  The Coubertin Foundry trains apprentices in metalwork and cast-art techniques while also undertaking substantial artistic commissions. A documented project completed in 2008 was Jean Cardot’s Flame of Liberty for the United States Embassy in Paris.

• Museum and cultural venue

  Sculpture museum and Jardin des Bronzes

  The foundation presents its sculpture holdings in the estate’s palace and in an open-air museum known as the Jardin des Bronzes. The collection covers sculpture from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and includes works by Joseph Bernard, René Collamarini, Robert Wlérick, Pablo Gargallo, Marta Pan, Jean Cardot, Étienne Hajdu, and other artists.

1. 1Coubertin Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Coubertin Foundation official websitecoubertin.fr