Yves Saint Laurent

cactus collection

photography by STEPHAN CRASNEANSCKI

Cacti have always fascinated artists, from Diego Rivera to Karl Blossfeldt and Robert Mapplethorpe. YVES SAINT LAURENT collected them and turned the garden of the VILLA MAJORELLE in Marrakech, which he acquired with Pierre Bergé in 1980, into a cactus museum in its own right. The cactus plant can be painted or photographed, but it cannot be touched, held, or easily transported. It can be seen as a symbol of artistic autonomy — a unique form which exists in and of itself, yet must protect itself with thorns and spines.