The Palais des Nations is an architectural complex with a
century-old heritage. The original materials, such as rare
woods, fabric hangings, imitation marbles and plaster ceilings,
need to be conserved by respecting the period layout.
Looking for a shade of colour, a frieze, a wall painting or a
plaster (staff) moulding to renovate? The Palais des Nations has
one man for the job, Patrick Trouillot. A native of the Chamonix
valley, with training as a plasterer-painter-decorator, Patrick
started with the renovation of heritage buildings, then reproduced
chalet details identical to the old parts. He learned to
make colors stand out, to age them and he developed skills in
patina, on iron, wood or staff. Then in his own business, he also
made classical pieces and renovated facades or inner walls for
rental units or boarding houses. Back in the private sector, he
specialized in wall-coverings, doing building sites abroad as an
appliqué technician and training the local personnel.
Patrick has been working at the Palais des Nations since 1977,
between two building projects abroad. The United Nations
Office at Geneva then employed four painters. In 1994, Patrick
joined that team, by now reduced to one painter and one upholsterer,
doing office painting in series with big «ordinary» building
sites being subcontracted. In 1996 he became the sole plasterer-painter-decorator of the Palais des Nations.
The visible part of his work is the renovation of the wall of some
premises, the offices of the Director-General’s floor, the silk screening
of panels and road markings. But he also paints less visibly when
he restores artworks of the Palais des Nations. There are many false
marbles in the old building of the Palais des Nations, and each one is
unique. They systematically require tints and motifs. Patrick regularly
helps his craftsmen colleagues to find the right shades. Hence,
in 2003 he participated in the renovation of the original leather mural
in Conference Room XI, fully completed by his upholsterer colleague.
Quietly, in his workshop, he likes to enhance the finish of
damaged art pieces, or give to the pedestals an appearance in harmony
with the statuary. Instead of completely painting a wall, he can
correct a single part to brighten it up, saving time and painting.
His finest work was the renovation of the Villa Le Bocage in
2001. At the ground level he restored six friezes on door pediments,
each one 2.5 metres long, the painting of a master and
the gilt decoration of an immense mirror, two columns of «murit» (hard plaster, the more it is polished with a wet spatula,
the shinier), and the gilt of two mirrors upstairs. In order to
give to the door pediments their original appearance, he had to
enhance the motifs by brushing off the paint layers with a
scalpel under a warm current of air. Then, he fixed the fissures
with fibre putty in order that they not reappear over time. He
traced the less damaged part, both in shape and shade, and
finally, after having searched for the right tint, redid the motif
by hand. Owing to that masterwork, some civil servants at UN
Geneva called him «Mister Michel Ange».
Right up to his retirement, Patrick would like to transmit his
knowledge of the tints and materials at the Palais des Nations,
so why not his nickname too?
English version revised by David Winch.
