The Palace of One Man

The Ideal Palace of Postman Cheval was built almost entirely by one man between 1879 and 1912. Ferdinand Cheval collected stones during his postal rounds before building each night an immense imaginary palace mixing temples, caves and impossible architectures.

Ferdinand Cheval was a rural postman in Drôme when, in 1879, he stumbled during his round on a strangely shaped stone. The object triggered an obsession that would last over thirty years: each day, along his kilometers of walking, he collected stones that he brought back to build, alone, an immense palace at the back of his garden. The Ideal Palace of Postman Cheval was built almost entirely by one man between 1879 and 1912.

The edifice mixed without hierarchy oriental, medieval, biblical and fantastic inspirations, away from any academic style. Cheval worked at night, after his rounds, with a wheelbarrow, cement and the most rudimentary tools, under the long-mocking gaze of certified architects. The surrealists of the 20th century would see in this work born outside all training one of the summits of free imagination.

Having become one of the major emblems of Art Brut, the Ideal Palace resembles less a building than a dream patiently transferred into stone. Ferdinand Cheval collected stones during his postal rounds before building each night an immense imaginary palace mixing temples, caves and impossible architectures.