A folky French garden house decorated with sea shells. 

The shell house is the work of Andre Hardy. This shell house was part of his 'Le Jardin Extraordinaire'. 

When iron-monger Andre reached 50 he took up sculpting in 1970 and filled the garden around his home, (as well as the outside of his house and out-buildings), with sculptures and elaborate decoration. 

His sculpture garden is now gone but even this minor part of it is notable for its clever and thoughtful decoration.

He worked by covering a hollow frame with cement, which was painted and decorated with shells and whatever was to-hand.

 Andre gave up sculpting in the early 90s. He died in 2013, aged 93.

 The shell house is likely to date to the mid-late 70s.

This type of art goes by a few names; folk art, Primitivism, outsider art but the French call it ‘Art Brut’ or raw art.

 The Lille Museum of Modern, Contemporary & Outsider Art in Northern France have added several of his sculptures to their permanent collection.

H:72 W:79 D:41 CM

H:28.5 W:12 D:12 INCHES