Apparently there has always been a strong artistic connection between Patti Smith and Arthur Rimbaud, as she repeatedly stated in the past, describing him as a personal idol. And as additional prove for this connection, she recently (March 2017) decided to buy and save the childhood home of the French poet, in the Ardennes.
The house had fallen into ruin in recent years, although it is still an important pilgrimage destination for fans, being the place where the poet wrote one of his most famous works, Une saison En Enfer.
The house was already on sale in 2016, and many were asking if some American rockstar could be interested in buying it. The purchase by Patti Smith, completed at the end of February 2017, was made in complete secret: she never said a word about it, even in the days when she talked about Rimbaud at the Grand Vermeil medal award ceremony in Paris.
Now the house is owned by Patti Smith. We don’t know yet the plans for the future of the house, but we can expect nothing else than a great attention and care, based on the huge esteem that Smith has for Rimbaud As she said back in an interview with Bomb Magazine: “I devoted so much of my girlish daydreams to Rimbaud. Rimbaud was like my boyfriend.”
