L'oiseau bleu (the blue bird)
Aubusson tapestry woven by "le mur du nomade" workshop.
With label, n°EA.
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Composition
Tapestry woven in the Fino workshop, Portalegre. With label of the Suzy Langlois gallery, n°1/6. Circa 1980. -
Luc Estang
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. With label. Circa 1947. -
Silenciaire (silencer)
A pupil of Wogensky at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, Sautour-Gaillard had his first cartoon woven in 1971 by the Legoueix workshop (a collaboration which was to last), and from then on he designed many very large-scale projects of which the most spectacular was “Pour un certain idéal” a series of 17 tapestries dealing with the theme of Olympianism (property of the Musée de l’Olympisme in Lausanne). If at first close to lyrical abstraction, the artist produced in the 1990’s cartoons superimposing different decorative motifs, textures and figures whose unity originated in the woven texture itself. Throughout his career, Sautour-Gaillard had small scale works woven which he called “tapisseries-objets” (tapestry artefacts). If it is true that they faithfully follow the artist’s successive styles, they can be distinguished (apart obvously from their small size) by the fact that the warp is attached to a wooden frame which makes them rigid ; though small these tapestries are intendended to be displayed on walls. Bibliography : D. Cavelier, Jean-René Sautour-Gaillard, la déchirure, Lelivredart, 2013, ill. p.166Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°1/1. 1978. -
Concerto
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Berthaut workshop. With signed label. 1957. -
Jour d'été (summer day)
Edmond Dubrunfaut can be considered as the great 20th century renovator of the Belgian tapestry tradition. He founded a weavers’ workshop in Tournai as early as 1942, then, in 1947, created the Centre de Rénovation de la Tapisserie de Tournai. He produced for various Belgian workshops (Chaudoir, de Wit,...) numerous cartoons destined notably to adorn Belgian embassies throughout the world. Moreover, Dubrunfaut was a teacher of monumental art forms at the Academie des Beaux-Arts de Mons from 1947 to 1978 and then, in 1979, contributed to the creation of the Fondation de la tapisserie, des arts du tissu et des arts muraux de Tournai, a veritable heritage centre for the art of the tapestry in Wallonie. His style, characterised by figuration, strong colour contrasts, draws direct inspiration from nature and animal life (as with Perrot, for example, this artist has a net predilection for birdlife). In this respect the cartoon, with its elongated format in keeping with the bird’s height, represented here in a very realistic fashion, is characteristic of the afore-mentioned predilection. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Dubrunfaut et la renaissance de la tapisserie, tableaux, dessins, peintures, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Mons, 1982-1983.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop, edited by Jean Laurent. With label, n°EA. 1989. -
Hommage à Vivaldi (a tribute to Vivaldi)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Berthaut workshop. With signed label. 1963. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … The theme of the seasons is a classic in the history of tapestry which was enthusiastically ressuscitated by the 20th century cartoon artists, of whom Lurçat was foremost (cf his Seasons wall hanging commissioned by the state in 1939). Here, Seasons, Zodiac, Music (in the title only) coexist: the work is a vast synthesis of the artist's various sources of inspiration. The colour graduation and specific attributes (the iconography is traditional) allow us to follow the annual cycle. The seasons will also be woven together in pairs, horizontally, in a smaller format (3 m²), and without reference to Vivaldi. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966, n°19 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, n°139 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976, ill. Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Boulogne sur Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, 1978 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Paris,Musée de la Poste, 1980, ill. Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Abbaye Saint Jean d’Orbestier, 1992, ill. -
Visage (face)
Chazaud, originally from the Creuse department of France, revealed in his tapestries the extent of his affection for the natural world in which he grew up and which he, like Gaston Thiéry (and Maingonnat before them) largely drew on for inspiration. The female form is, however, another thematic inspiration for Chazaud; with his flower-women, his leaf-women, he reintroduces the human face and profile to the art of tapestry.Tapestry probably woven in the Picaud workshop in Aubusson. Circa 1980. -
Le feuillage bleu (the blue foliage)
Tapestry woven by the Baudonnet workshop. With signed label. 1965. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … “Rideau de feuilles” [leaf veil], a larger work from 1962 inspired our cartoon. Bruzeau describes it as having a ‘rigid, austere, symmetrical style’ with a ‘Cistercian accent’. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, n°148 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Boulogne sur Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, 1978 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Paris,Musée de la Poste, 1980 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Abbaye Saint Jean d’Orbestier, 1992 -
Jardin champêtre (country garden)
A painter of weaving cartoons, a master-weaver, director of the Hamot manufacture at Aubusson where he wove most notably Sheila Hicks : the multiple talents of Hecquet are undeniable. That of painter-cartonnier which began at the end of the 1960’s, remains however one of the less well-known, as is the case for numerous other artists of the same generation.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Hamot workshop. With signed label, n°3/6. 1980. -
Voleur de soleil (Sun thief)
Originally a sculptor exploiting very diverse materials (steel, concrete, clay…), Borderie came to tapestry with immense enthusiasm in the 1950’s with the weaving of his first cartoon in 1957. Receiving encouragement from Denise Majorel, he was awarded the Grand Prix National de la Tapisserie in 1962. In 1974 he was appointed as director at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs at Aubusson but he resigned from this post shortly thereafter. He designed over 500 painted cartoons, abstracts using simple shapes, shading in a limited palette of colours and weaving with gros points. A dynamic abstraction with a limited colour scheme running from orange to brown, same preoccupations with light (and shadow) as in ‘les armes de la lumière’ (and as in Matégot's work).: a classic cartoon from André Borderie. Here we find the Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue André Borderie « pour l’homme simplement », Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1998 Exhibition Catalogue André Borderie et la tapisserie d’Aubusson, Aubusson, Manufacture Saint-Jean, 2018Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°5/6. Circa 1970. -
Ciel de Sienne (Sky in Sienna)
Fumeron designed his first cartoons (he would ultimately make over 500) in the 1940’s, in collaboration with the Pinton workshop, he was then commissioned on numerous occasions by the state before participating in the decoration of the ocean liner “France”. His work was figurative to begin with and influenced by Lurçat, then turned towards abstraction, before coming back to a style characterised by colourful figurative and realistic depictions from the 1980’s onwards. The title and the subject of this cartoon combine in a subtle play on words : the opposition of « terre » the earth (the colour sienna in French is “terre de Sienne” ) and “ciel” the sky allows the artist to depict, on a shaded ocre (sienna) background his birds and sun-circle, in the deorative vein so redolent of this particular artist.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. N°4/6. Circa 1960. -
Cortège d'Orphée (Orpheus's procession)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Berthaut workshop. 1961. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … « The bestiary or Orpheus’ procession » is a collection of Poems by Apollinaire which would be illustrated with lithographs by Picart le Doux in 1962 (after Raoul Dufy’s work for the original edition). At the same time he designed a tapestry cartoon, using the form of a checkerboard popular with Lurçat, where each square figures a crayfish, a goat or a lion,..., in different and varied aspects of the animal kingdom. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966, n°13 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, n°108 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Boulogne sur Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, 1978 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Paris,Musée de la Poste, 1980 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Abbaye Saint Jean d’Orbestier, 1992 -
La lyre aux papillons (Lyre with butterflies)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Berthaut workshop. With signed label. Circa 1963. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … ‘Natural’ musical instruments (made from blossoming tree branches) are a recurring theme in Picart le Doux's work from 1953 onwards (see ‘La harpe des forêts’ [The Forest Harp]); ‘La harpe aux papillons’ [The Butterfly Harp], vertical with a red background, revisits this theme in 1963. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
Les enfants du soleil (Children of the sun)
Toffoli produced a large number of tapestries in collaboration with the Robert Four workshop from 1976 onwards, designing several hundred cartoons. In them we find post-cubist transparent effects which are characteristic of the artist, as indeed are the subjects treated. Thus Toffoli’s tapestries do not differ from his painting : travelling for inspiration, here he illustrates scenes observed during his travels in South America.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With label, n°EA2. Circa 1980. -
Clos d'octobre (october enclosure)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Andraud workshop. With label, n°EA2. 1978.A student of Léon Detroy, Gaston Thiéry is one of the last representatives of the Crozant school of painting. Estalished in the Creuse region of France, he started working on tapestries in 1965 with the Andraud workshop for whom he designed cartoons inspired by the local flora, in a decorative style which can be situated somewhere between that of Dom Robert and Maingonnat, a world away from his landscape paintings which were strongly influenced by the impressionists. -
Les Musiciennes 2 (the musicians 2; detail)
Tapestry woven by the Fino workshop, Portalegre. With label. 1953-1964. -
Composition orange
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. Circa 1940. -
Le trident de Neptune (Neptune's trident)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Berthaut workshop. 1946. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … Our cartoon, one of the artist's first, reflects his allegorical and mythological references (see ‘Le trésor d'Amphitrite’ from 1949) in his treatment of the sea. A close tapestry, ‘Les algues’, is more literal. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, n°6 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Boulogne sur Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, 1978 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Paris,Musée de la Poste, 1980 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Abbaye Saint Jean d’Orbestier, 1992 -
Henri, détail de "carton 28" (detail from carton 28)
In the 1980s, Aubusson tapestry was in decline. The public authorities then drew up a plan to revive tapestry, and Daniel Riberzani was one of the beneficiaries, becoming the first recipient of a grant from the Centre National des Arts Plastiques for tapestry. In Aubusson, at the ENAD, he discovered the medium, initially adopting numbered cartoons and forging links in the workshops. He then received public commissions for the Gobelins and the Espace Carpeaux in Courbevoie (‘Music and Dance’, a 160 m² tapestry!), among others. Thematic series, in line with his pictorial work, followed one after another: ‘landscapes-events’, ‘intimate paintings’, “writings”, ‘painted cartoons’, etc. The latter, collaged and painted papers from 1993-1994, were designed for possible translation into textiles (tapestries or carpets, depending on the case). ‘Cardboard 28’, from 1993, consists of colourful pinned words, like a border on a neutral grey background in the centre, and although there was no ‘Carpet or Tapestry 28’, the artist had details woven, where « Henri » rubs shoulders with fragmentary “eruption” and ‘sulphur’: a tapestry of margins. Bibliographie : Cat. Expo. Histoire d’une tapisserie ou la rencontre du cannibale et des carnassiers, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1984 Cat. Expo. Tapisseries – Cartons peints, Riberzani avec Bezard, Brandon, Four, Gachon, Scioria, Avallon, Collégiale Saint-Lazare, 1995 Gérard Denizeau, Riberzani peintures intimes 1989-1999, Inard Editions, 1999, ill. n°3, p.159 Daniel Riberzani Œuvres, 2014Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. 1993-1996. -
Linda
Toffoli produced a large number of tapestries in collaboration with the Robert Four workshop from 1976 onwards, designing several hundred cartoons. In them we find post-cubist transparent effects which are characteristic of the artist, as indeed are the subjects treated. Thus Toffoli’s tapestries do not differ from his painting : the theme of motherhood, whether exotic or not, remains a recurring motif in Toffoli's work, regardless of the technique used. This tapestry is reproduced in the publication « Tapisserie d’Aubusson » produced by the Guéret Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the beginning of the 1980’s to illustrate the technical prowess of the Aubusson tapestry workshops.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With label, n°EA2. Circa 1980. -
Marchands (Traders)
Toffoli produced a large number of tapestries in collaboration with the Robert Four workshop from 1976 onwards, designing several hundred cartoons. In them we find post-cubist transparent effects which are characteristic of the artist, as indeed are the subjects treated. Thus Toffoli’s tapestries do not differ from his painting : travelling for inspiration, here he illustrates scenes observed during his travels in South America.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With signed label, n°EA2/2. Circa 1980. -
Les 6 mots du secret (the 6 words of secrecy)
In 1987, Texier received a commission for the Human Rights tapestries ensemble to mark the bicentenary of the Revolution. The choice was unexpected, as the artist, still young, had never before produced tapestry cartoons. This commission brought together the Aubusson workshops that were still in operation at the time, with the seven tapestries covering a total of more than 130 woven sq.m. with literal quotations (the tables of the declaration are reproduced identically to the engraving from the revolutionary period), oscillating objects, signs, texts, etc. Texier went on to provide cartoons for both the Manufactures Nationales (a series of three tapestries and a carpet) and Aubusson. Our cartoon incorporates the visual symbols, scattered texts, and traces characteristic of the artist's graphic and visual universe, which constitute, to quote him, “maps where [he] introduces guiding elements” in order to reveal the eponymous « secret » to us. Bibliography : La Suite des Droits de l’Homme, Niort, 1989Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°1/1. 2001. -
Le lion (the lion)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Picaud workshop. With label signed by the artist's widow, n°2/6. Circa 1980. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … “The Lion” reproduces, in small format, one of the figures, like heraldry, from the 1961 “Cortège d’Orphée” [Orpheus’ Procession]. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Boulogne sur Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, 1978 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Paris,Musée de la Poste, 1980 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Abbaye Saint Jean d’Orbestier, 1992 -
Oiseau de Midi (bright birds)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°EA. 1969.Wogensky met Lurçat as early as 1939, but he only entered into collaboration with him after the war, designing his first cartoon in 1945 (already titled « les oiseaux » (the birds)) and soon after joined the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie). A teacher of mural art at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués in Paris, Wogensky designed 159 cartoons up until the 1980’s, most of them woven by Legoueix. “Wool is like us in that it is warm-blooded. It is comforting and reassuring. A wall of wool, is a living, more human wall” (quoted in Robert Guinot “la Tapisserie d’Aubusson et de Felletin”, Lucien Souny, 2009). This is the artist’s credo which would invigorate his creativity, finding expression in lyrical flights (literally, as ornithological themes, often highly stylised, were among his favourites. Some cartoons, particularly at the end of the 1970’s are resolutely abstract), in cartoons inspired by “Natural History” (a title he gave to one of his works in 1961), or in cosmic themes, using constellations or other natural elements. “I always took pleasure in working on a large scale” as he also confided in Robert Guinot. If this cartoon appears modest in comparison with other official commissions created by Wogensky (University of Strasbourg, the Senate conference hall...) its subject allows for an impression of spatial expansion, via the elan of the elliptic bird-like motifs, energized by the chromatic flattening effect of the bright red background. Bibliography : Cat. Expo. 25 ans de tapisserie française 1944, Paris, manufacture des Gobelins, 1969, n°33 Exhibition Catalogue La Tapisserie et l’Espace, Châteauroux, couvent des Cordeliers, 1978, n°21 Exhibition catalogue Robert Wogensky, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie, 1989, illustrated p.34 Exhibition catalogue Robert Wogensky, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1989, ill. p.20 -
Le périscope (the periscope)
“First of all I like wool, its warmth...In tapestry, I can use both colour and graphic design” wrote the artist in “Sculpture”, Paris, 1968. Better known as a sculptor, Gilioli would design his first cartoon in 1949, before winning in 1957 the Tapestry Prize at the Biennial in Sao Paulo ; in all he designed around a hundred tapestries, woven by the Pinton and Picaud workshops. From the end of the 1960’s onwards Gilioli’s cartoons are exclusively geometrical, use two or three colours and evolve in parallel with the forms employed in other media. Our tapestry reproduces, on a smaller scale, the mosaic designed a few years earlier by the artist for the building “Le Périscope,” a project by Novarina in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Gilioli, Paris, Galerie la Demeure, 1971 Exhibition catalogue Des sculpteurs et la Tapisserie, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1995 Exhibition catalogue Gilioli Tapisseries, Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny, 1997Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. 1971. -
Bouquet papillon (bunch butterfly)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°4/6. Circa 1980.From illustration to tapestry, there's only one (big) step to take - remember that Dom Robert was an illuminator! It was he, and Madeleine David, one of the co-directors of the La Demeure gallery, with whom she was close, that encouraged Jacqueline Duhême to take up the medium: preceded by her reputation as an “imagière” (cf. bibliography), illustrating Prévert, Eluard and Druon, she devoted herself to tapestry from 1967 (when she took classes with Tourlière at the ENAD in Aubusson, and became an enthusiast of numbered cartoons) to 1981, with La Demeure even devoting a solo exhibition to her in 1976. Her world, inspired by medieval mille-fleurs tapestries, is also reminiscent of dom Robert, but a dom Robert on amphetamines, where Nature is abundant, exotic and exuberant (cf. ‘Safari’, ‘l'oiseau de Paradis’). On a smaller, more polished scale, our cartoon bears witness to the colourful vitality of Duhême's inspiration. Bibliography : Cat. Expo. Jacqueline Duhême l’imagière, bibliothèque Forney, 2019 -
Instruments de musique lunaire (instruments for moonlight music)
A painter and engraver, Lucien Coutaud also worked in the theatre with Dullin, Barrault and designed numerous sets and costumes. However it was his encounter with Marie Cuttoli in 1933 which would introduce him to tapestry : she mainly commissioned seat cover designs. Most of the tapestries that followed were woven in the Pinton workshop for the Compagnie des Arts Français, whose main aim was to integrate tapestry as an element of interior decoration. The last 3 tapestries designed by the artist in 1960 are a tribute to his notoriety because “Jardins exotiques” was chosen to decorate the 1st class saloon on the “France” transatlantic liner.Elements of his work as a set designer, influenced by surrealism, are discernible in Coutaud’s woven art : the world he illustrates is figurative yet stylised (shapes are angular and harsh) contained in a dream world often incorporating unusual borders. The cartoon « Instruments de musique lunaire » (Coutaud painted his own cartoons in watercolours without having recourse to numbered cartoons) dates from 1950 : it’s one of the few tapestries designed by this artist (notable also are « Harpe marine » Marine harp and « Violon printanier » Spring violin », as examples of his taste for musical still lives) where the human figure is absent. The centre of the scene (the stage) is occupied by the instruments, while two heads (blowing into musical instruments in the pit) take up the two bottom corners, the whole meanwhile being an austere scene, night time (hence the moonlight) a good representation of the dream-like universe inhabited by this artist’s creations. The municipal theatre in Göteborg possesses a copy of this tapestry. Bibliography : J. Cassou, M. Damain, R. Moutard-Uldry, la tapisserie française et les peintres cartonniers, Tel, 1957, ill. p.86 Exhibition Catalogue Lucien Coutaud, œuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, 1988-1989, ill. p.42-43 Exhibition Catalogue Le théâtre en tapisserie, Cavaillès, Lurçat, Matisse, Sorèze, Abbaye-école Musée dom Robert, 2017, ill. n°8Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. 1950. -
Le conscrit des 100 villages (the conscript of the 100 villages)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. 1947. -
Aube quarte (fourth dawn)
Marc Petit met Jean Lurçat in 1954, went to Aubusson in 1955, exhibited his work for the first time at La Demeure in 1956, became a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie) in 1958. After this lightning start to his career, he produced hundreds of cartoons, in a style all his own, where long-legged waders and acrobats wend in and out of dreamscapes. Again, economy of means, with broad flat tints and a narrow chromatic range, for a singular dawn. a theme that the artist is fond of (cf. ‘le pas de l'aube’, but also “Aurore”, ‘la nuit s'éteint’ ....). As for the flock of passing birds, this is another leitmotif, seen in ‘aube courte’ for example.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Picaud workshop. With signed label, n°2/4. Circa 1970. -
Laissez les vivre (let them live)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. With signed label, n°6/8. Circa 1970.Henri Ilhe, who came to the design of tapestry cartoons late on in his career, still managed to produce from 1964 onwards a considerable number (more than 120, all woven by the Tabard workshop) in an urbane style, incorporating birds and butterflies sporting in and around the gnarled branches of trees and bushes. “Laissez les livre” is thus, characteristic of Ilhe’s bucolic inspiration. -
Le coquillage étoilé (the starry seashell)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Berthaut workshop. With label signed by the artist. 1959. Jean Picart le Doux is one of the foremost figures in the renaissance of the art of tapestry. His earliest contributions to the field date back to 1943 when he designed cartoons for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. A close associate of Lurçat, whose theories he would adopt (limited palette, numbered cartoons…), he was a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), and soon after, a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. The state gave him several commissions most of them at the Aubusson workshop, and some at the Gobelins : the most spectacular of these being for the University of Caen, the Theatre in Le Mans, the passenger ship France or the Prefecture of the Creuse département … In as much as Picart le Doux’s aesthetic is close to that of Lurçat, so also is his inspiration and his subject matter, although in a register which is more decorative than symbolic, where he brings together heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, the stars…), the elements, nature (wheat, vines, fish, birds…), man, literary quotation … Our tapestry reproduces the left-hand side of a cartoon of the same title dating from 1959. Although Picart le Doux's early tapestries feature marine motifs, he soon moved towards less allegorical, more realistic representations. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, n°91 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Boulogne sur Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, 1978, n°17 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Paris,Musée de la Poste, 1980 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Abbaye Saint Jean d’Orbestier, 1992, ill. -
Les vieilles marches (the ancient steps)
Toffoli produced a large number of tapestries in collaboration with the Robert Four workshop from 1976 onwards, designing several hundred cartoons. In them we find post-cubist transparent effects which are characteristic of the artist, as indeed are the subjects treated. But while Toffoli is a painter-traveller, he also sometimes takes an interest in less exotic subjects : old stones in a French village, for example.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With label, n°EA2/2. Circa 1980. -
Musique de chambre (chamber music)
A painter and engraver, Lucien Coutaud also worked in the theatre with Dullin, Barrault and designed numerous sets and costumes. However it was his encounter with Marie Cuttoli in 1933 which would introduce him to tapestry : she mainly commissioned seat cover designs. Most of the tapestries that followed were woven in the Pinton workshop for the Compagnie des Arts Français, whose main aim was to integrate tapestry as an element of interior decoration. The last 3 tapestries designed by the artist in 1960 are a tribute to his notoriety because “Jardins exotiques” was chosen to decorate the 1st class saloon on the “France” transatlantic liner.Elements of his work as a set designer, influenced by surrealism, are discernible in Coutaud’s woven art : the world he illustrates is figurative yet stylised (shapes are angular and harsh) contained in a dream world often incorporating unusual borders. ‘Musique de chambre» seems a world away from the war’s grim times : the menacing sharp-edged designs of the later tapestries are not yet present but the artist's leitmotivs of onirism, beauty of the faces, and vegetal decoration on the borderes are already asserting themselves. A copy of the tapestry was included in the 1946 exhibition. Bibliography : L’amour de l’art, la tapisserie Française, 1946, ill. p.181 Collectif, Muraille et laine, éditions pierre Tisné, 1946, plate 55 Jean Lurçat, Tapisserie française, Bordas, 1947, plate 34 Exhibition catalogue Lucien Coutaud, œuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, 1988-1989, illustrated p 17Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop for the Compagnie des Arts Français. 1940. -
La crique (the cove)
As a young painter moving towards abstraction in the late 40s, Longobardi was commissioned to paint large-scale murals in France and abroad (the presidency of the Republic of Abidjan, the rectorate of the Poitiers Academy, etc.), as well as numerous tapestry cartoons, in particular for the Manufactures Nationales, with sometimes very modern subjects (‘l'autostrade’, ‘l'aéroport’, etc.). Longobardi, along with Singier and Springer, was one of the very first abstract artists to receive public commissions at the time. Although his work was abstract, his aesthetic evolved over time, from sharp forms to a more lyrical style full of movement, until the appeasement of the 1960s. The high point of his meteoric official career came when he was commissioned to create ‘la crique’ for the starboard private dining room of the liner ‘France’. After this, the artist became much rarer. Our tapestry bears witness to a marine inspiration that is not so frequent on the liner "France", and which, moreover, remained on the borderline between Abstraction (his usual mode of expression) and Figuration. It was sold under number 170 in the Loudmer sale of 10.7.1983, ‘Œuvres d'art du France’. Provenance : liner "France" Bibliography : Cat. Expo. Le Mobilier National et les Manufactures Nationales des Gobelins et de Beauvais sous la IVe République, Beauvais, Galerie de la Tapisserie, 1997 Armelle Bouchet-Mazas, le paquebot France, éditions Norma, 2006, ill.p.170 Cat. Expo. Le chic ! Arts décoratifs et mobilier de 1930 à 1960, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2022-23Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. 1959. -
Les beaux jours (fine weather)
Odette Caly, who specialised in the depiction of bouquets, designed numerous cartoons for Aubusson, woven in the Pinton, Henry or Hamot workshops. Her inspiration, typically using meadow flowers, is here emphasised by the use of a border which refers back to the historical tapestry tradition. Bibliography : Caly, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1972Aubusson tapestry woven in the Henry workshop. With signed label, n°2/6. Circa 1980. -
Le dindon (the turkey)
Perrot began his career as a cartoon designer at the end of the war, making almost 500 cartoons including numerous commissions from the state, most of which were woven at Aubusson. His style which is particularly rich and decorative is eminently recognisable : a crowd of butterflies or birds, most often, stands out against a background of vegetation, reminiscent of the millefleurs tapestries (which would also inspire Dom Robert). This tapestry is a typical example of the artist’s portraits of birds ; the turkey appears, as often in his work, associated with other birds, against a background inspired by the flower-strewn mediaeval tapestries. Another example was woven for the Ministry of Reconstruction. Bibliography : Tapisseries, dessins, peintures, gravures de René Perrot, Dessein et Tolra, 1982 Tapisserie d’Aubusson, Association du développement du pays d’Aubusson, 1983, ill.p.40 Cat. Expo. René Perrot, mon pauvre cœur est un hibou, Aubusson, Cité de la Tapisserie, 2023Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With label. Circa 1960. -
Le sultan (the sultan)
Lurçat’s artistic production was immense : it is however his role as the renovator of the art of tapestry design which ensures his lasting renown. As early as 1917, he started producing works on canvas, then in the 20’s and 30’s, he worked with Marie Cuttoli. His first collaboration with the Gobelins workshop dates back to 1937, at the same time he discovered the tapestry of the Apocalypse which was essential in his decision to devote himself to tapestry design. He first tackled the technical aspects with François Tabard, then on his installation at Aubusson during the war, he established his technique : broad point, a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers. A huge production then follows (over 1000 cartoons) amplified by his desire to include his painter friends, the creation of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie) and the collaboration with the art gallery La Demeure and Denise Majorel, and then by his role as a tireless advocate for the medium around the world. His tapestries reveal a pictorial world which is specifically decorative, with a very personal symbolic iconography : cosmogony (the sun, the planets, the zodiac, the four elements…) stylised vegetation, fauna (rams, cocks, butterflies, chimera …) standing out against a background without perspective (voluntarily different from painting) and, in his more ambitious work, designed as an invitation to share in a poetic (he sometimes weaves quotations into his tapestries) and philosophical (the grand themes are broached from the wartime period onwards) vision whose climax is the “Chant du Monde” (Song of the World) (Jean Lurçat Museum , ancien hôpital Saint Jean, Angers) which remained unfinished at his death. ‘Le Sultan’ is an inverted version of “Fanfares”, with changes to the detail of the rooster's plumage. Although the rooster is a leitmotif for Lurçat, it can take on different meanings: here, in glory, on a large scale (3.5 m²), it bears witness to the Victory of 1945 (note the tricolour allusions), it is a festive rooster, deployed in a profusion of coloured areas. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Lurçat, 10 ans après, Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1976 Exhibition catalogue Les domaines de Jean Lurçat, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1986 Symposium Jean Lurçat et la renaissance de la tapisserie in Aubusson, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie 1992 Exhibition Catalogue Dialogues avec Lurçat, Musées de Basse-Normandie, 1992 Exhibition catalogue Jean Lurçat, Donation Simone Lurçat, Académie des Beaux-Arts, 2004 Jean Lurçat, le chant du monde Angers 2007 Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. With signed label. Circa 1945. -
Les 2 écureuils (the 2 squirrels)
Edmond Dubrunfaut can be considered as the great 20th century renovator of the Belgian tapestry tradition. He founded a weavers’ workshop in Tournai as early as 1942, then, in 1947, created the Centre de Rénovation de la Tapisserie de Tournai. He produced for various Belgian workshops (Chaudoir, de Wit,...) numerous cartoons destined notably to adorn Belgian embassies throughout the world. Moreover, Dubrunfaut was a teacher of monumental art forms at the Academie des Beaux-Arts de Mons from 1947 to 1978 and then, in 1979, contributed to the creation of the Fondation de la tapisserie, des arts du tissu et des arts muraux de Tournai, a veritable heritage centre for the art of the tapestry in Wallonie. His style, characterised by figuration, strong colour contrasts, draws direct inspiration from nature and animal life (as with Perrot, for example, this artist has a net predilection for birdlife). The squirrel is one of the artist's recurring themes (cf. ‘Evening Fires’, ‘Squirrels and Birds’...): here he uses the tails as a decorative motif in their own right.Tapestry woven by the de Wit workshop. With signed label. Circa 1960. -
Survol (flying over)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°5/6. 1974. It was in 1953 that Jean Picart le Doux proposed to Chaye to become his assistant and encouraged him to design tapestry cartoons : he would produce numerous bucolic cartoons, but also views of Normandy (Mont Saint Michel, Honfleur, regattas,...) whence he came. These compositions “as the bird flies” are typical of the artist. Bibliography : Simon Chaye tapisseries contemporaines, Editions Librairie des musées, 2014, ill. p.83 -
Mond und Wasser (Moon and Water)
Tapestry woven by the Münchener Gobelin Manufaktur. Circa 1970.Holger was a student at the Ecole Nationale d’Art Décoratif d’Aubusson and worked with Lurçat before the latter’s death in 1966. He designed numerous dream-like cartoons woven by the Aubusson workshop. Now settled in the United States, he remains a tireless advocate for, and witness to, modern tapestry design, organising exhibitions and lectures on the subject. Some of his cartoons have been woven in the two workshops active in Germany, in Nuremberg and Munich, using Aubusson techniques. -
Feuer und Wasser (Fire and Water)
Tapestry woven by the Münchener Gobelin Manufaktur. With signed label. Circa 1970. Holger was a student at the Ecole Nationale d’Art Décoratif d’Aubusson and worked with Lurçat before the latter’s death in 1966. He designed numerous dream-like cartoons woven by the Aubusson workshop. Now settled in the United States, he remains a tireless advocate for, and witness to, modern tapestry design, organising exhibitions and lectures on the subject. Some of his cartoons have been woven in the two workshops active in Germany, in Nuremberg and Munich, using Aubusson techniques. -
Opaline
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With label, n°1/6. Circa 1980.Best known as an engraver, Davo reproduces in tapestry the result of his research in that medium, based on the oxydation of different metals placed on the copper plate, hence its iridescent-solarizing effects. -
Sabulum
Jacques Brachet was an important protagonist of the « New Tapestry » movement ; woven by Pierre Daquin, exhibited by the « La Demeure » gallery in the 1970’s, his innovative and experimental approach to the medium, from the 1950’s onwards, was recognised by the Centre International d’études pédagogiques in Sèvres, by the scenography of “La Tapisserie en France, 1945 – 1985, la tradition vivante” at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and by his inclusion in various promotional events right up to the present day. The specific techniques of his tapestry designs (as opposed to painting) : innovative use of shape and texture, themes taken from the natural world etc. took shape in the 1970s; he was then close to Pierre Daquin, who wove a number of his tapestries. Although he is known for his marine subjects, Brachet's inspiration also turns to the mineral world (Sabulum = sand in Latin), which gives a more figurative flavour to our cartoon, with a challenge : how to translate sand into wool? Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Jacques Brachet, mémoires océanes, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1996Tapestry woven in the Saint-Cyr workshop. With signed label, n°EA. 1973. -
Le violon printanier (the spring violin)
A painter and engraver, Lucien Coutaud also worked in the theatre with Dullin, Barrault and designed numerous sets and costumes. However it was his encounter with Marie Cuttoli in 1933 which would introduce him to tapestry : she mainly commissioned seat cover designs. Most of the tapestries that followed were woven in the Pinton workshop for the Compagnie des Arts Français, whose main aim was to integrate tapestry as an element of interior decoration. The last 3 tapestries designed by the artist in 1960 are a tribute to his notoriety because “Jardins exotiques” was chosen to decorate the 1st class saloon on the “France” transatlantic liner.Elements of his work as a set designer, influenced by surrealism, are discernible in Coutaud’s woven art : the world he illustrates is figurative yet stylised (shapes are angular and harsh) contained in a dream world often incorporating unusual borders. There's a close link between music and fantasy in Coutaud's world: he creates musical still lifes where instruments come to life (cf. “harpe marine”), underlined by eccentric borders. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Lucien Coutaud, œuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, 1988-1989, illustrated p 50Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°2/6. 1956. -
La pluie (rain)
A painter and engraver, Lucien Coutaud also worked in the theatre with Dullin, Barrault and designed numerous sets and costumes. However it was his encounter with Marie Cuttoli in 1933 which would introduce him to tapestry : she mainly commissioned seat cover designs. Most of the tapestries that followed were woven in the Pinton workshop for the Compagnie des Arts Français, whose main aim was to integrate tapestry as an element of interior decoration. The last 3 tapestries designed by the artist in 1960 are a tribute to his notoriety because “Jardins exotiques” was chosen to decorate the 1st class saloon on the “France” transatlantic liner.Elements of his work as a set designer, influenced by surrealism, are discernible in Coutaud’s woven art : the world he illustrates is figurative yet stylised (shapes are angular and harsh) contained in a dream world often incorporating unusual borders. “La pluie” and its counterpart “la neige” take up the theme of Man (medieval in this case, given his attire) in harmony with Nature, as in “La pluie et le beau temps”. We also find the artist's taste for narrow vertical formats, sometimes woven as folding screens (cf. “Passe-temps”). Bibliography : J. Cassou, M. Damain, R. Moutard-Uldry, la tapisserie française et les peintres cartonniers, Tel, 1957, ill. p.88-89 Exhibition catalogue Lucien Coutaud, œuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, 1988-1989, illustrated p.36Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop, for the Compagnie des Arts Français. 1946. -
Les 2 compagnons (the 2 partners)
Lurçat’s artistic production was immense : it is however his role as the renovator of the art of tapestry design which ensures his lasting renown. As early as 1917, he started producing works on canvas, then in the 20’s and 30’s, he worked with Marie Cuttoli. His first collaboration with the Gobelins workshop dates back to 1937, at the same time he discovered the tapestry of the Apocalypse which was essential in his decision to devote himself to tapestry design. He first tackled the technical aspects with François Tabard, then on his installation at Aubusson during the war, he established his technique : broad point, a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers. A huge production then follows (over 1000 cartoons) amplified by his desire to include his painter friends, the creation of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie) and the collaboration with the art gallery La Demeure and Denise Majorel, and then by his role as a tireless advocate for the medium around the world. His tapestries reveal a pictorial world which is specifically decorative, with a very personal symbolic iconography : cosmogony (the sun, the planets, the zodiac, the four elements…) stylised vegetation, fauna (rams, cocks, butterflies, chimera …) standing out against a background without perspective (voluntarily different from painting) and, in his more ambitious work, designed as an invitation to share in a poetic (he sometimes weaves quotations into his tapestries) and philosophical (the grand themes are broached from the wartime period onwards) vision whose climax is the “Chant du Monde” (Song of the World) (Jean Lurçat Museum , ancien hôpital Saint Jean, Angers) which remained unfinished at his death. Our cartoon is a reversal of the ‘Man’ cartoon (a copy of which is kept at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris), with a few changes. The point is the same: integrated with Nature, in the foliage, surrounded by animals (an owl snuggled up to his breast, the blue dog-companion...), Man is the pivot around which all Creation revolves. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Lurçat, 10 ans après, Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1976 Exhibition catalogue Les domaines de Jean Lurçat, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1986 Symposium Jean Lurçat et la renaissance de la tapisserie in Aubusson, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie 1992 Exhibition Catalogue Dialogues avec Lurçat, Musées de Basse-Normandie, 1992 Exhibition catalogue Jean Lurçat, Donation Simone Lurçat, Académie des Beaux-Arts, 2004 Jean Lurçat, le chant du monde Angers 2007 Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016Aubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop. With label. Circa 1945. -
Linarès
Matégot, originally a decorator, then creator of artefacts and furniture (an activity he abandoned in 1959) met François Tabard in 1945 and gave him his first cartoons, first of all figurative then rapidly of abstract design in the 1950’s. He became a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres Cartonniers de Tapisserie) in 1949, participated in many international exhibitions (Matégot, like Lurçat before him, was an untiring advocate of the art of tapestry) fulfilled numerous public commissions, sometimes of monumental proportions (“Rouen” 85m2 for the Préfecture of the Seine Maritime département, and also tapestries for Orly Airport, for the Maison de la Radio, for the IMF...) and designed no fewer than 629 cartoons up until the 1970’s. In 1990 the Matégot foundation for contemporary tapestry was inaugurated in Bethesda, U.S.A. Matégot is an artist, like Wogensky, Tourlière or Prassinos, who turns wool textiles resolutely towards the abstract: at first lyrical, geometric in the 70’s, exploiting various technical aspects of the loom : colour graduations, shading, irregularities... Our carton is part of a large body of tapestries with exotic overtones: ‘Acapulco’, ‘Mindanao’, ‘Santa Cruz’... but with an abstract treatment. At this time, his tapestries were resolutely compartmentalized (but not geometric) before the more lyrical phase of the 1960s. Bibliography : J. Cassou, M. Damain, R. Moutard-Uldry, la tapisserie française et les peintres cartonniers, Tel, 1957, ill. p.141 Waldemar Georges, Mathieu Matégot, Prisme des Arts special issue, 1957, ill. Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991, ill. p.33 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014, ill. p.96 in the 1954 Salon des Artistes décorateursAubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop. With label. 1954. -
Moulin (mill)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Glaudin-Brivet workshop. With label, n°3/6. 1974. Bibliography : Simon Chaye tapisseries contemporaines, Editions Librairie des musées, 2014, ill. p.40
