This mass has been a tradition since 1926. Adolphe Léon Willette, an illustrator, poster artist, lithographer, and caricaturist born in 1857 in Châlons-sur-Marne and died in 1926 in Paris, though anti-clerical, a “priest-eater” as they used to say, vowed to see a prayer said for the artists who would die within the year. A bit like the gladiators’ salute to Caesar, except here they salute God. “Those who salute you, Lord, before dying.” In 1926, Willette died, and since then, the tradition has been respected.
Every year on Ash Wednesday, the Willette vow mass pays tribute to the artists who will die, a mass for the living, but did God not say to let the dead bury the dead? This mass has been celebrated for the past eight years in Nice at Saint-Pierre d’Arène Church under the direction of Father Yves Marie Lequin, chaplain of the artists. The theme for this year, 2019, is: MISERERE, have mercy, Lord: distress and injustice being the subjects of this exhibition.
One will notice Charlie Chaplin in The Kid, a magnificent and poignant portrayal of truth. Thus, 120 visual artists have exhibited in the church, on its picture rails, its colonnades, its nave, and its chapels their works on this subject. The theme is serious, and many portraits betray this gravity. Thus, even believers go to the mass!
Witticism, play on words, no, this phrase perfectly illustrates the mass of the artists. This mass of the artists in Nice is a unique event in France due to its scope and international influence. The works will be exhibited until April 1st.
If believers go to the mass, non-believers are invited to come, to dare enter this Saint-Pierre d’Arène Church, to discover the artistic expressions: paintings, sculptures, and perhaps to respond to Willette’s vow.
Thierry Jan
