Indeed, Hyppolite Massé (1894-1984), who had a job as a ferryman on the harbour canal in Les Sables d' Olonne, has decorated the facades of two houses in his hometown.
Both creations are no longer extant.
Both creations are no longer extant.
The first one, known as the "house with the mermaid", was located on the Rue du Lieutenant Maurice Anger in the la Chaume quarter of the town.
The image of the shell decorated facade is settled in the minds of french art brut lovers from the moment photographs of the decorations were first published in 1962 in Gilles Ehrmann's photo book Les inspirés et leurs demeures.
This book, currently a collector's item, was the first french coherent presentation that introduced the general public to a phenomenon that before that time got no public interest: common people transforming their daily environment into an artwork.
Ehrmann, who as a photographer was connected to a french illustrated magazine, used a classic glass plate camera, which gives his photographs a specific texture. The pictures probably have been made in the second half of the nineteen fifties.
The image of the shell decorated facade is settled in the minds of french art brut lovers from the moment photographs of the decorations were first published in 1962 in Gilles Ehrmann's photo book Les inspirés et leurs demeures.
This book, currently a collector's item, was the first french coherent presentation that introduced the general public to a phenomenon that before that time got no public interest: common people transforming their daily environment into an artwork.
Ehrmann, who as a photographer was connected to a french illustrated magazine, used a classic glass plate camera, which gives his photographs a specific texture. The pictures probably have been made in the second half of the nineteen fifties.
The second facade Massé decorated, pictured above (photographer unknown), was located on the corner of the rue du Marais and the rue Bénadier.
It has an engraved bronze entrance door, which currently is in the collection of the local Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix. Left and right of the door the walls have frescoed maritime scenes, with at the right an inscription saying Coupe de Noroît, which to my best knowledge means "north western gale".
This facade probably has been decorated in the nineteen sixties and/or seventies.
As said, and as the pictures below show, the decorations on both facades have disappeared.
I could not figure out when this happened, but the images show there is really nothing left.
Documentation
* Hidden in small periodicals, out of my reach, documentary information should be available, such as in Frédéric Orbestier, "La Maison d'Alice", in: l'Art Immédiat, nr 2 (1995) and in an article by Benoit Decron and Charles Soubeyran in Olona, nr 207 (2009) (periodical of the regional historic society of the area around Les Sables d'Olonne)
Hyppolite Massé
Maisons aux coquillages
Les Sables d'Olonne, FR
no longer extant
