Pierre Petit et Raymonde

France, 1902 - 1990 | 1901-1990

Pierre Petit never left Bourges, where he was born, and worked in a sawmill his whole life. He married Raymonde, who was his assistant. During his retirement, Pierre dedicated himself, in the corner of the kitchen of his modest apartment, to making toys with leftover pieces of wood from the sawmill. Pierre began by building the town church, then city hall, the school, the public park, the artisans and the inhabitants. He also created space shuttles and extraordinary devices. Everything was carefully painted by Raymonde according to her husband’s directions. This couple of extremely clear-headed artists began to sell their pieces to their neighbors. Then the stars who would come to Bourges for the yearly music festival became interested in their work, followed by film makers and museum curators. Shortly before Pierre Petit and Raymonde’s death, the Museum of Bourges and other museums such as the Collection de l’Art Brut Lausanne bought some of their pieces to incorporate them into their collections.