Lorjou Bernard

          Although he was a silk designer in his youth and created large-format paintings that served as manifestos at exhibitions (for example, "La peste en Beauce" from 1953 measured 250 x 360 cm), Lorjou's interest in tapestry came late in life: perhaps he considered the harshness and robustness of his style unsuitable for weaving (his close friends, Rebeyrolle, Mottet, Sébire, etc., were never woven themselves). In the 1970s, his style became more dreamlike and less expressionistic: it was then that he provided cartoons for the Pinton workshop.   The color palette and bird motifs are characteristic of Lorjou's work in the 1970s; the texture of the paintings is reproduced in tapestry through differences in weaving techniques.