A comic strip about the Picassiette house, Raymond Isidore’s “paradise on earth” in Chartres

Classified as a historic monument since 1983, the Picassiette house, at 22, rue du Repos, in a residential area of ​​Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), was well worth a comic book story. This is now done thanks to Chartres-based screenwriter Gonzague Jobbé-Duval, also a school teacher, who teamed up with illustrator Benoît Blary to bring to life the crazy story of the construction of this house entirely decorated with mosaics.

The idea emerged during a school visit organized by Gonzague Jobbé-Duval with his class. The magic of the place, which has become one of the most visited tourist and heritage sites in Chartres, triggers in him an irrepressible desire to know more about its creator: Raymond Isidore (September 8, 1900 – September 7, 1964). This unusual character, who worked all his life as a sweeper for the town, patiently built in 1930 what he called his “paradise on earth”, a sort of temple of devotion dedicated to his wife and the Virgin Mary.

Like the ideal Palace of Postman Cheval in Hauterives (Drôme) or the Chomo Forest House in Achères-la-Forêt (Seine-et-Marne), the man who was nicknamed the “Picasso of the plate” completely covered the house and the garden with shards of earthenware and glass that he picked up in the street to form his multicolored mosaics and one of the most beautiful compositions of art brut in France.

In this comic strip, the result of extensive research in the archives, Gonzague Jobbé-Duval endeavored “to bring to life this simple man who wanted to follow his dreams”, by imagining dialogues that he could have with his wife or his children. And through this fascinating story, the authors offer us a journey through working life between the wars, the German Occupation, the Liberation of Chartres.