Unique exhibition at the Musée d’Art Brut in Montpellier for sculptor Edmond Barrial
Discovering an exceptional work of art in an attic… An art lover’s dream come true! This is the emotional impact of the Musée d’Art Brut in Montpellier. In the small world of self-taught artists, few continue to create their work away from public view until the end of their lives. Edmond Barrial was one of them. From January to April 2026, discover part of this treasure discovered by chance in an attic: around forty unique pieces by Edmond Barrial, generously loaned by collectors Thérèse and Bertrand Roualet, will be on display. Artistes Actuels invites you to take a peek inside.
© cover picture : Inuit sled presented by Patrick Michel, director of Outsiderart museum in Montpellier
Edmond Barrial, a secret and passionate self-taught artist
Edmond Barrial, known as “Momon,” was born in 1926 in the heart of the Auzonnet Valley, in the coal basin of Ales at the entrance to the Cévennes. An only child, he suffered from a debilitating illness that prevented him from walking and attending school. He learned to read and write with the help of his grandmother and three of his neighbors.
From a young age, he made all kinds of small wooden objects. His mother died when he was seventeen. As his health improved, he went to work as a miner and then quickly became a lamp tender because he couldn’t stand the confinement, dust, and humidity. At 47, he was no longer able to continue. So he devoted all his time to crafting objects out of chestnut or pear wood salvaged from the Cévennes mountains: birds, cars, airplanes, famous figures such as Laurel and Hardy, John Wayne, Elvis…
Fairy tales, legends, and popular culture fuel his imagination and creativity. Battling anxiety and depression, Edmond Barrial works in his studio far from the city, hidden from view, sharing his secrets with neither his family nor his friends.
He died in 2012, leaving behind a body of work that defies categorization, imbued with extraordinary depth and ingenuity. Kept secret, as if imprisoned, his work was only discovered ten years after his death in his attic, without ever having been officially exhibited. In 2026, the Musée d’Art Brut in Montpellier revealed it to the public.
Edmond Barrial brings to life an imaginary world steeped in popular culture and hard work.
Wood, a “primitive” and plant-based material, allows Edmond Barrial to give shape and life to his inner strength, marked by the harshness of illness, work, and sweat from the depths of the earth. Mother Nature is his refuge.
His hands speak truthfully and shape a universe of workers, archetypes of humans and animals that have become fairy-tale and magical idols. His carved and partially polychrome wooden sculptures blur the line between toys, theater figurines, and folk art sculptures.
The simplified bodies, frontal faces, and unbalanced proportions immerse us
in a pocket theater of popular memory and carnival.
Edmond Barrial’s work mixes times and registers: tales, history, everyday life, and bestiary, like a large, cobbled-together collective memory. Polychromy is used sparingly: color is used mainly to signify identity, skin, or patina.
Edmond Barrial lived in close contact with nature and observed it closely.
His creative passion allowed him to escape the harsh realities of the working world he knew, as well as the despair linked to social upheaval and his illness, which led to his inactivity.
Discover his work at the Musée d’Art Brut in Montpellier.
© artistesactuels.fr – The thrill of artistic discoveries
