Paint
The Emerald Coast has landscapes that are particularly inspiring for painters, whether they are seascapes or countryside. Numerous painting galleries in Saint-Malo and Dinard bear witness to this. Every year during the summer, the galleries in Dinard organize evening events that liven up the city center. Numerous exhibitions are also held throughout the Emerald Coast.
In addition, it should be noted that the painter Pablo Picasso occupied twice in the 1920s the villa Beauregard in Dinard with his wife Olga and his son Paulo. He painted about fifty beach canvases including Family by the Sea and Two Women Running on the Beach. We can also mention the painter Leon Hamonet who was nicknamed "the dowser of the Emerald Coast".
Drawings
In Saint-Malo, the designer Redge takes his pleasure in customizing sneakers that he "scribbles" to make them unique. Passionate about drawing thanks to his grandfather who used to paint, his illustrations can now be found everywhere because he represents, among other things, the sports news of the Saint-Malo area. If you want to make your pair of shoes special, you can contact him on his website or his Facebook page.
Photography
Rich in breathtaking landscapes, the Emerald Coast is the ideal place for photographers, whether they are amateurs or professionals. It has a wide variety of breathtaking panoramas. In addition, the area is full of historical buildings and monuments, old towns, small fishing ports...: so many places to discover and capture.
Photography lover? Try the photo tour from Dinan to Saint-Malo, supervised by a professional who will help you to use your Reflex, Hybrid and even smartphone correctly, to discover the Rance Valley from all angles without any filter. Once in Dinard, you will take the boat to join the corsair city: Saint-Malo. A very nice trip, which you will keep unforgettable memories. To discover: the album of Serge Bizeul, a photography enthusiast who has gathered 60 photographers of the Emerald Coast. Charles Montécot, historian and photographer from Dinan, is notably the author of the Secret Guide to Dinan. The production company Easy Ride or Maërl also capture great images of the Emerald Coast with drones. See them on their Facebook pages. Splendid!
Cinema
The magnificent shores of the Emerald Coast and the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel offer exceptional settings for the art of filmmaking. Eric Rohmer filmed his famous " Conte d'été" in Saint-Lunaire. Let's also mention Claude Chabrol, a regular visitor to the Saint-Malo region. He shot several of his famous thrillers there: Inspector Lavardin in Dinard and The Ceremony in a beautiful malouinière near the corsair city. Note that Dinard organizes at the end of September, for 30 years already, the international festival of British film, recently renamed Dinard British Film Festival.
For the anecdote, the Lumière brothers made their first tests of development of color photography in a cave in Saint-Enogat called the Goule aux fées. While walking along the customs path, you will come across a commemorative plaque that evokes this historical fact.
At Fort La Latte, a good dozen films, and not the least, have been shot over the past four decades: Ridicule by Patrice Leconte, Le Jeu du roi by Quentin Raspail, Lancelot du Lac by Claude Santelli or Chouans by Philippe de Broca. The most memorable event was the shooting, in 1957, of the Hollywood blockbuster The Vikings, in which Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis starred with the beautiful Janet Leigh. The final scene, which opposes Eric (Tony Curtis) and Einar (Kirk Douglas), on the top of the dungeon, is an anthology scene of the seventh art.
It should also be noted that Jean Rochefort, an illustrious actor, was originally from Dinan and that as a teenager, he spent all his summers in Saint-Lunaire. He also lends his name to the cultural center of Saint-Lunaire.
Sculpture
Bernard Gloux, a master sculptor and Meilleur Ouvrier de France, created magnificent sculptures in his workshop in rue Gouyon Matignon. This passionate man started the art of sculpture in 1943 and left us in 2021. In 2020, he challenged himself to realize a great retrospective exhibition in the city of Dinard, of which he was an Honorary Citizen.
Let's also mention the sculptor Manoli who had his house-workshop in La Richardais, now transformed into a museum. Animal and abstract sculptures that do not leave one indifferent. In the town of Saint-Briac, you can also find the Chat qui Danse, an art and craft store with metal creations: weathervanes, signs, furniture and sculptures.
Street art
For several years now, street art has been inviting itself on the walls of the corsair city. The urban art association Teenage Kicks offers bike rides to discover its urban works created since 2015. Although we don't necessarily pay attention to them, you just have to look up to notice them. In Saint-Malo, the ride starts at Porte Saint-Vincent and lasts 2 hours, passing through the Compagnie de Pêche, the Boulevard de la République, the train station, or even Saint-Servan, to come back to the starting point, in Intra-Muros, in the Saint-Sauveur Basilica, which hosted the first exhibition of the world-renowned urban artist, Seth, in 2020. One of his works, Sur la voie de la liberté, can be found on the Boulevard de la République in Saint-Malo.
Also worth seeing is the work of street artist Joachim Romain, who in June 2020 created a black and white portrait from recycled posters. Find it in the rue du Point du Jour in Intra-Muros.
On the Dinan side, we note the artist Artkor Bagdad, very active in the area. Inspired by nature, his travels, as well as his many years spent in Guadeloupe, this self-taught artist has been passionate about painting and graffiti since he was very young.
