Armand Le Trionnaire, a cabinetmaker, husband, and father of four, gradually descended into psychosis after his wife’s death in 1949, developing persecutory delusions. In 1950, he was admitted to Lesvellec Psychiatric Hospital in Saint-Avé, near Vannes.
When his condition was less severe, he devoted himself to sculpture, creating series of scythes, walking sticks, and statuettes of Breton couples. The hospital provided him with a shed serving as both workshop and “shop,” where he sold his works to staff and visitors, using the proceeds to buy cigarettes.
He worked with rudimentary tools, mainly a grafting knife. A witness recalled: “A fine, helpful man who spoke well! A single scythe took him fifteen days to make.”
This small trade, which sparked jealousy, was eventually shut down by the hospital director. In 1989, he left the institution and returned to his family home in Vannes, where he lived until his death on July 31, 1996.