At the time, Mr. Ehrmann was a "charming man, " recalls Ms. Revel, the mayor.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Ehrmann's efforts to transform his garden into an art center started to bear fruit.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Ehrmann says villagers need not worry: "It's just a cultural event, " he says.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Ehrmann said he has since added a reference document, which he can email to students after the class.
That verdict became final in late 2009, after France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, rejected Mr. Ehrmann's appeal.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
"It is unbearable, " she says, showing off piles of letters on her desk sent to her by Mr. Ehrmann.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
And European brands are coming to the US like Ehrmann because they want to join and drive the new food movement.
Once every two years, Mr. Ehrmann, who is 50, organizes a festival, during which artists display new works and hold happenings.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
But Mr. Ehrmann says he will fight to keep his museum open.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Pierre Dumont, then the village mayor, filed a lawsuit against Mr. Ehrmann in 2004, claiming the house violated town planning and building rules.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Having lost his case in France, Mr. Ehrmann has turned to the European Court of Human Rights, saying he is a victim of censorship.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Floris, the neighbor whose house is illuminated by Mr. Ehrmann's fluorescent lights, says he is taking antidepressants and in no mood for jokes.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Florisse, the neighbor whose house is illuminated by Mr. Ehrmann's fluorescent lights, says he is taking antidepressants and in no mood for jokes.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
One of them, Marc Allardon, who also owns a stake in one of Mr. Ehrmann's companies, says he and Mr. Ehrmann are good friends.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Ehrmann said the regulations shouldn't be applied to his artworks.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
For the first hour, we listened to Mr. Ehrmann talk of how San Francisco had long been a cocktail town as far back as its Gold Rush days.
Mr. Ehrmann says accusations that he runs a sect are "ridiculous, " and that except for a few annoyed neighbors, he has good relations with people in the village.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Villagers hoped Mr. Ehrmann would pull the plug on his museum in December 2009, when a French court ordered him to restore the place to its original look.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Joseph Ehrmann, owns Elixir, one of San Francisco's oldest bars.
The village mayor Ms. Revel, who has been pursuing the fight against Mr. Ehrmann undertaken by her predecessor, says the protracted legal battle has left her on her knees.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Mr. Ehrmann shrugged off allegations that his artistic activities have brought down property prices around his house, saying that any such conclusion would have to be verified by other experts.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
Villagers say Mr. Ehrmann didn't go unnoticed, dressing in black at the wheel of a Bentley and walking his two Great Danes, named Reuters and Saatchi after the news and advertising agencies.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
In 2006, a 15-foot-high steel bunker he created with a fellow artist was exhibited in Paris as part of an international art festival, and three years ago, American science-fiction writer Norman Richard Spinrad came to the Abode of Chaos for a lecture as part of Mr. Ehrmann's festival.
WSJ: French Artist Thrives on Chaos, Neighbors Are Less Enthralled
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