Initially, it was supposed to be carried out by its creator, Claude Gilli, with the approval of Christian Estrosi. Unfortunately, the creator of the “Forest of Trees” passed away on June 28, 2015, before he could complete his work.
Five flat trees made of vegetative steel, ranging from 5.16 meters to 7.77 meters high, with a total weight of 11 tons. It was positioned to put the composition in motion to create a forest. The location was not chosen at random. “We wanted this piece of art to be installed in Durandy Garden, which was recently rehabilitated as part of the creation of tramway line 2, to pay tribute to this renowned artist,” explains Christian Estrosi.
A project that almost remained unfinished
To complete her husband’s project, 81-year-old Nicole, her daughter Paméla, and her son-in-law Gilles Pizzanell decided to call on Christophe Ricci and the Nice-based company Trans Fer Métal. This achievement was made possible thanks to numerous patrons like Pierre and Nicolas Ricci, Jean-Pierre Falcini, as well as Michèle and André Martinon.
At the time, the creator of the anthropomorphic painting explained about his work: “All my sculptures are fragments of landscapes from my youth, memories of the umbrella pines that populate the Nice landscape, and more generally, Mediterranean landscapes. They are the shadows, the silhouettes, of the trees in these landscapes; an image that symbolizes these places, like a memory.”
