Large Vessel

Artist:

Raymond Isidore (1900-1964) Chartes, France. After a fateful stroll in 1938, when a shiny piece of broken crockery caught his eye, Isidore devoted the remainder of his life to the creation of one of the world’s most unique dwellings—an ecstatic expression of the untrained artist’s bursting imagination.

Isidore believed “what people disdain and reject in quarries and dumps can still serve,” as he once explained of his growing cache of discards.

His home, now known as La Maison Picassiette, was his canvas. He began with filling his interior walls with mosaic, he moved to the ceilings, floors, and even furniture: from the kitchen table and bed, to a sewing machine and side chair. Every corner and object became encased in ceramic and glass collage or painted patterns, all depicting the most joyous, colorful aspects of nature, and everyday life. Then, he moved on to the exterior.

As Isidore's his creation grew, he became known by cynical neighbors as Picassiette—a term joining pique (or steal) with assiette (or plate). 

By the end of his life, in 1964, Isidore had acquired another nickname, too: Picasso Assiette. The name was fitting in part because Pablo Picasso visited La Maison Picassiette in 1954. But the title also recognized the Isidore’s unbridled art and vision.

Key features of his work:

Picassiette: type of mosaic art that uses discarded dishes, broken plates, and other ceramic fragments to create intricate designs