An exhibition of mysterious natural sculptures from the prehistoric sand dunes of Fontainebleau, near Paris. Although the dunes are around 30 million years old, how or when these gogottes formed is not fully understood. The collection shown was found by chance in the 1990s whilst quarrying for sand.

The intriguing name of “gogotte” was coined by French geologist Claude Guillemin (1923 - 1994), who was inspired by the children’s book series Babar the Elephant. In one of the books, a group of monsters called Gogottes are shown hiding behind rocks. These rocks reminded Guillemin of the sandstone concretions from Fontainbleau, and the name stuck.

The striking forms of gogottes have fascinated their beholders for centuries. They have inspired many artists, such as the French surrealists or the English sculptor Henry Moore, who owned his own example. The Sun King himself, Louis XIV, admired these natural artworks and kept them in his gardens at Versailles, where they can still be admired today. Gogottes can also be found in some of the world’s leading natural history museums, notably the Smithsonian Institution, Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Natural History Museum in London.