Today’s motto is “Rise and shine and achieve your goals!”
Maison Picassiette: an unusual artwork in Chartres
In today’s travel tip, we are going to visit an artist’s home in Chartres. Everyone knows the French city for its magnificent Cathedral, but only a few are aware that there is another attraction not to miss: Maison Picassiette, an unusual artwork in northern France.
This building shows how an ordinary house can be turned into a stunning artwork. Every corner reveals some treasure. Colourful mosaics of broken glass and pottery cover the entire surface, displaying the lively imagination of its creator: Raymond Isidore. Images are everywhere, from the floor to the ceiling, on the chairs as well as on any other piece of furniture, including his wife’s sewing machine. You won’t fail to be surprised by this lively ‘horror vacui’ effect.
Raymond Isidore: the ‘plate stealer’ or the ‘Picasso of plates’?
As incredible as it may seem, the graveyard caretaker Raymond Isidore used waste materials that people had thrown away in the nearby fields and dumps.
That’s where his nickname ‘Picassiette’ may come from: ‘Pique’ (meaning ‘steal’) and ‘assiette’ (meaning ‘plate’).
According to some others, the true meaning is the ‘Picasso of plates’.
Whatever the truth is, his fellow citizens had no intention of paying him any kind of compliment. In fact, they looked down on him as a poor, crazy man. During the war, he was even confined to a psychiatric hospital.
Maison Picassiette: the masterpiece of an entire life
Life was never easy for him. The seventh of eight children, he grew up in a humble family, with a violent father. Then, he started working very young, taking care of his wife and her three children. Nevertheless, he was not discouraged. Creativity was always his primary way out, or at least that’s what it seems since he devoted himself to his art, night and day (and it’s not just a saying). It took him over 30 long years, from 1930 to 1962, to build and decorate his home: the Maison Picassiette: an unusual artwork in Chartres. That’s the only artwork he made during his lifetime, but what a masterpiece!
Always chase your dreams!
As Raymond Isidore once said: “The soul travels, wanders, is free, is everywhere. It does not need a house designed by an architect… but needs a place reflecting its own taste and its likeness”. Looking at his murals and mosaics, his soul must have been a bright and cheerful one, despite the challenges he had to face. May his example inspire you and strengthen your drive to achieve your goals.
