Soleil couchant (Sunset)
Tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop.
With signed label.
Circa 1950.
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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. The motif of the owl with outstretched wings figuring as a protective guardian, is found in his work from the 1950's onward. Interestingly, one of the most iconic photographs of the artist shows him, arms akimbo, but with his hands on his bald head, positioned below and in front of just such a bird. 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, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016
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Faisan d'ombre (Shadow pheasant)
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. In Lurçat’s work, the motif of the cockerel can appear under different monikers : peacock, pheasant (limiting ourselves to the ornithological, because when the plastic representation presents symbolical value the variations are infinite). As for the use of a negative outline, it is a technique used also in the piece entitled “coq dentelle” [lacy cockerel] (a piece in its own right playing on different textiles) dating from 1946. 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie, ill. p.59 Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013, ill. fig. 154 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016Aubusson tapestry woven in the Caron workshop. With signed label. Circa 1950. -
Helios
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. His use of the « cloisonné » motif is frequent, be it on checkerboards, coats of arms ; here he uses a spiral of sections assembled in a helix (cf also “Haut zodiac” for example), whose circular shape with rays spinning outwards evokes the sun : and the title leaves no room for doubt. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Lurçat rétrospective, peintures, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1966, n°44 (ill.) Exhibition Catalogue Lurçat, tapisseries 1964-1965, Galerie la Demeure, 1967, ill. n°3 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Nice, Musée des Ponchettes, 1968, ill. 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016Aubusson tapestry woven in the Picaud workshop. 1965. -
Coqthon (Cocktuna)
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. If there is one motif that is omnipresent in Lurçat’s work over the years it is that of the cockerel, in an infinite variety of interpretations. It can be used in many and various associations, syntheses (cocktuna rather than cock and tuna) bridging different elements, hierarchies, natural worlds. 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016Tapestry probably woven in Aubusson, in the Goubely workshop. Circa 1950. -
Florale n°3 (Floral n°3)
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. The framing of motifs is a recurrent trope in Lurçat's production (one only has to think of his “armoires” - cabinets) ; nevertheless, nature, flowers, cannot be contained and tend to spill over, out of the frame. This composition partially revisits (the right-hand side) his work entitled “Nouveau jardin Marcenac”, a cartoon dating from 1955. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Nice, Musée des Ponchettes, 1968 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label signed by the artist's widow. Circa 1955. -
New York
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. The theme, modernist urbanism, is a rare one for the artist (the tapestry is sometimes also entitled Chicago), and does not appear until quite late. We should not forget, however, the figure of his brother André, an architect, and the omnipresent theme of compartmentalisation: the skyscraper becomes an avatar of the wardrobe or the chequerboard. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Nice, Musée des Ponchettes, 1968 Exhibition Catalogue Lurçat, 10 ans après, Musée d’Art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1976, ill. 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, la terre, le feu, l’eau, l’air, Perpignan, Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud, 2024Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. With signed label. 1960. -
Vera Cruz
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. His journey to Brazil in 1954 was a decisive source of inspiration for Lurçat : the flora and fauna (particularly the butterflies, a recurrent theme) of the Amazon appear repeatedly : “What interests me with the butterfly, ... is the extraordinary inventiveness of the interlacing forms, the sparkling colours, the total freedom of their coloration...” (Claude Faux, Lurçat à haute voix, 1962, p. 151). This geographical source will know several avatars: ‘Vera Cruz’ thus, but also ‘New Delhi’... will be pretexts for butterflies. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Nice, Musée des Ponchettes, 1968 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, la terre, le feu, l’eau, l’air, Perpignan, Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud, 2024Aubusson tapestry woven in the Simone André workshop. With label signed by the artist. Circa 1955. -
Le chien vert (the green dog)
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. Something of a dog lover, Lurçat owned Afghan hounds. They can be found literally in his cartoons, the theme of the dog, always surrounded by sharp foliage, was omnipresent at the end of the 1940s: ‘Chien vert’ is particularly close to the contemporary ‘Basset’. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Nice, Musée des Ponchettes, 1968 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle, 2016, ill. p.76 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, la terre, le feu, l’eau, l’air, Perpignan, Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud, 2024Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. 1949. -
L'écarlate de jour (the day scarlet)
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 Gobelins, 2016technical 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. If there is one motif that is omnipresent in Lurçat’s work over the years it is that of the cockerel, in an infinite variety of interpretations. Our model (this one a true scarlet) is an echo, larger and inverted, of ‘Blue Scarlet’ from 1953. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Claude Roy, Jean Lurçat, Pierre Cailler 1966, ill.n°100 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Nice, Musée des Ponchettes, 1968 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, Denise Majorel, une vie pour la tapisserie, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, Meister der französischen Moderne, Halle, Kunsthalle Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil, Paris, galerie des Gobelins, 2016 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Lurçat, la terre, le feu, l’eau, l’air, Perpignan, Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud, 2024Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. 1953. -
Rives (shores)
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. The abundant plant and fish motifs respond to each other, but in a typical Lurçat inversion, with the aquatic element above the banks. 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 Goubely workshop. With label. Circa 1955. -
Le grand-duc (the eagle-owl)
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. Lurçat's naturalistic representations of animals are unusual (Maingonnat comes to mind). But the flat coloured backgrounds segment and distinguish the different species, in a contrasting partitioning that is characteristic of the artist. 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 label. Circa 1950. -
Le pêcheur (the fisherman)
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. This is an inverted fragment of a larger cartoon (250 x 180 cm). The themes of fishing and hunting, often echoing each other (the net itself is sometimes used to catch birds), are recurrent (see the ‘Hunting and fishing’ cartoon, Fraysse auction 19.10.2011 n°10 for example), illustrating a confrontation between Man and Nature. Bibliography : Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957, ill. n°17 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 Braquenié workshop. With a certificate from the artist's widow. Circa 1955. -
Brochette (skewer)
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. The skewers are discreet (in some cartoons, Lurçat does not hesitate to place fish on tridents), and the fish appear as if on a stall, an arrangement that echoes the partitioning of his famous wardrobes. 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 1955. -
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. -
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. -
Le conscrit des 100 villages (the conscript of the 100 villages)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. 1947. -
Composition orange
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. Circa 1940. -
Luc Estang
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. With label. Circa 1947. -
Les Dauphins (Dolphins)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Picaud workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n° 6 of 8. 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 insipiration 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 ... Reproduced as n° 95 in Bruzeau, the latter comments : « Perfect symbolism of a theme already treat ed ». It is true that, from the very beginning, Picart le Doux made recurrent use of the theme of the sea, and particularly with “le Dauphin” (the Dolphin) in 1951 (Bruzeau n° 27). This cartoon, though rather more stylised, is typical of the symetry favoured by the artist and is executed in a colour scheme redolent of the sea bed. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972 -
La cage ouverte (the open cage)
Tapisserie d’Aubusson tissée par l’atelier Berthaut. Avec son bolduc signé de l'artiste. 1953. 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 insipiration 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 ... Birds are a recurrent motif in the artist’s work in the first half of the 1950’s (“la cage ouverte” the open cage, one of the most successful works of this artist, dates from 1953, Picart le Doux here comes back to the same cartoon but with a few minimal changes), as well as the tongues of flame punctuating the edges of the cage. Added to this is the limited colour scheme which is not a little redolent of traditional foliage. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
La harpe des mers (Harp of the ocean)
Tapestry woven in the Berthaut workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist. 1954. 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 insipiration 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 ... « La harpe des mers » (Harp of the ocean) (Bruzeau n° 60) just as its companion piece « La harpe des forêts” (Harp of the forest), identical in size, is one of a set of cartoons by Picart le Doux dealing with the theme of the lyre and the harp : the geometrical rigour and graphic power of the parallel strings were a particular inspiration to the artist. Here, music and nature are closely associated (cf “l’arbre-lyre” the tree lyre from 1953) and Orphée Orpheus (a cartoon from 1952) is the single figure which encapsulates this assimilation. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
Les oiseaux s'envolent (birds fly)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Berthaut workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist. 1949. 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 … “Les oiseaux s’envolent” (the flight of the birds) was intended as a symbolic representation of the Liberation of France, a theme which recurrs in the “la cage ouverte’ (the open cage) in 1953. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, n°13 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
Le phénix (the phoenix)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Hamot workshop. Complete with label signed by the artist, n°EA. 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 ... « Le Phénix » (The Phoenix) (An identical lithograph exists also), a subject inspired by legend (a rare event in the work of Picard le Doux) reproduces a chromatic harmony of yellow motifs against a red background typical of this particular artist. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, ill. n°162 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
La harpe des forêts (harp of the forests)
Tapestry woven in the Berthaut workshop. Complete with certificate of origin. 1953. 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 tree/ harp is recurrent with Picart le Doux (occasionally one can find also a tree/ lyre, Bruzeau n° 44) reflecting his sensitivity to the inter-penetration of Nature and Music, and also to the decorative interest of multicoloured string-stripes, here set against a green, humus-scented background. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, ill. n°45 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
Le chant du matin (morning song)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. N°5/6. 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 ... An amusing allegory of a cock-harp, luminescent and joyous : if the title and the motif itself are reminiscent of the work of Jean Lurçat, the particularly decorative character of this piece is typical of Picart le Doux. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, ill. n°147 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 -
Hommage à Mozart (Homage to Mozart)
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 insipiration 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 ... Cartoons devoted to musical themes are extremely frequent in Picart le Doux’s work : forms (here the concerto), specific works (“La petite musique de nuit”, a little night music, another title for our work ; “Les 4 saisons”, the 4 seasons, for example) composers (“Hommage à Vivaldi”, “Hommage à Bach”, which was reproduced as a stamp in 1980), instruments (“Soleil-Lyre”, Sun-lyre, “Harpe des mers”, Ocean harp), mythological figures (“Orphée”, Orpheus).In most cases these thematic motifs are integrated into a bucolic natural scene animated by birds and butterflies in a decorative style typical of the artist. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Jouffray, Jean Picart le Doux, Publications filmées d’art et d’histoire, 1966, ill. n°5 Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, ill. n°159 Exhibition Catalogue, Jean Picart le Doux, tapisseries, Musée de Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition Catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980Aubusson tapestry woven by the Hamot workshop. N° EA. 1955. -
Petite harpe des bois (little harp of the woods)
Tapestry woven in the Picaud workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist's widow, n°3/6. Circa 1975. 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 insipiration 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 ... This cartoon refers back to « la harpe des forêts”, the sylvan harp, of 1953 (Bruzeau n°45). The link between music and nature is a leitmotiv in the work of Picart le Doux : these tapestries are often animated by birds outlined agains the vertical background of the strings. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux Tapisseries, Musée municipal d’Art et d’Histoire, Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980 Exhibition Catalogue le salon de musique, église du château, Felletin, 2002, ill. p.54 -
La Lyre (The lyre)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Circa 1960. 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 insipiration 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 image of the lyre, and also that of the harp, is one of the leitmotivs of the artist. Representative of Apollo, the lyre regularly appears with the sun (cf for example “Soleil-lyre”; Bruzeau n°82), but also as a symbol of the passing of time (similar to the use of the pendulum in the XVIIIth century, interestingly one of the artist’s cartoons is titled “the Pendulum”, auction in Lille 17.06.01 n°464) : “les Phases du temps” (the phases of time, cf Armelle Bouchet Mazas, le paquebot France, Editions Norma, 2006, p.72) which adorned the 1st class smoking room on the France. Strangely enough, our tapestry does not figure in Bruzeau’s book : possibly because it was specially commissioned for a scientific or industrial organisation, if one considers the form which appears with the lyre. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d'art, 1972 Armelle Bouchet Mazas, le paquebot France, Editions Norma, 2006 -
Le compotier (the fruit stand)
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 insipiration 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 ... A trellis background, reguarly found in Picart le Doux’s work in the 1950’s, notably in « Nature morte à la fontaine », woven at the Gobelins in 1952, is the expression of a certain decorative inclination to a style of tapestry popular in earlier times. “Le compotier” is a reworking of “les fruits et la guitare”, a larger work, woven at the Berthaut workshop in 1955. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972, ill. n°64 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux Tapisseries, Musée municipal d’Art et d’Histoire, Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980Aubusson tapestry woven by the Braquenié workshop. Complete with signed label. 1956. -
Le Méridien étoilé (the starry meridian)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Berthaut workshop. circa 1948.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 … This cartoon is extracted from « Cosmogonie » (Bruzeau n°11), from 1948, here presented in a vertical format and without featuring the quotation from Goethe. The theme of the Astrolabe will be recurrent in his work, notably his eponymous tapestry of 1955. Bibliography : Marthe Belle-Jouffray, 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 -
Rendez-vous des oiseaux (the bird's meeting point)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Berthaut workshop. With label. 1951.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 insipiration 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 ... Birds are a recurring motif of the artist in the first half of the 50s, as well as the flames punctuated by dots on the rim, one of Picart le Doux's signatures. Moreover, the limited chromatic range is reminiscent of traditional "verdures" tapestries. This tapestry is reproduced in Bruzeau's book, as No. 30. Bibliography : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions cercle d'art, 1972 -
Les petites algues (Small seaweed)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop Complete with certificate of origin. Circa 1950. 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 insipiration 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 … Seaweed (and more generally the underwater world) was a theme in Picart le Doux’s work throughout his career, from “les algues” in 1946 onwards ; “Spiralgues”, “Buisson d’algues”, “les algues vertes”,... to name but a few. “Les petites algues” is a treatment, on a smaller scale, of the theme of “les algues” a cartoon 260 x 250 cm, edited by Leleu. The eponymous seaweed surround, lace-like, a central square where the real subject of the cartoon, a still-life arrangement of seashells and starfish, is framed. 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 municipal d’Art et d’Histoire, Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 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 insipiration 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 … « Poissons-voile » reproduces the central motif of « Rouge de Chine » (Bruzeau n°178), from 1969, with its seaweed, coral and fish, one of this artist’s classic pieces. It is notable that Picart le Doux is probably the cartonnier who most often had recourse to red backgrounds of varying hues. 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 municipal d’Art et d’Histoire, Saint-Denis, 1976 Exhibition catalogue Jean Picart le Doux, Musée de la Poste, 1980
Poissons-voile (Fish-sail)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°5/6. 1969. -
Soleils éteints (Extinct suns)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°1/6. Circa 1970. Originally an engraver (Prix de Rome, intaglio technique in 1942), Jean-Louis Viard designed his first tapestry cartoons in the mid 1950’s. At first his work was figurative (he was collaborating at the time with Picart Le Doux), but then he evolved along the same lines as many other painter-cartoonists of the period (Matégot, Tourlière or Prassinos,...) towards abstraction. He produced scores of cartoons working up until the 2000’s, in parallel to his work as a painter and engraver, but throughout revealing a particular interest for the use of contrasting materials and textures in the tradition of the “Nouvelle Tapisserie” of which Pierre Daquin was one of the leading lights. The inspiration for his motifs, sometimes metaphysical (“Mémoires” Memories, “Destins” Destinies,…) is wide-reaching, from astronomical infinity « ténèbres solaires » solar darkness) to the microscopic (« Mutation végétale” Plant mutation) : a profuse and varied production, regularly exhibited at his home, in various public and private exhibition spaces and, most significantly, at the Salon Comparaison of which he was the curator for the Tapestry section. Origin : the artist’s workshop -
Destins (Destinies)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Glaudin-Brivet workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°1/6. 1974. Originally an engraver (Prix de Rome, intaglio technique in 1942), Jean-Louis Viard designed his first tapestry cartoons in the mid 1950’s. At first his work was figurative (he was collaborating at the time with Picart Le Doux), but then he evolved along the same lines as many other painter-cartoonists of the period (Matégot, Tourlière or Prassinos,...) towards abstraction. He produced scores of cartoons working up until the 2000’s, in parallel to his work as a painter and engraver, but throughout revealing a particular interest for the use of contrasting materials and textures in the tradition of the “Nouvelle Tapisserie” of which Pierre Daquin was one of the leading lights. The inspiration for his motifs, sometimes metaphysical (“Mémoires” Memories, “Destins” Destinies,…) is wide-reaching, from astronomical infinity « ténèbres solaires » solar darkness) to the microscopic (« Mutation végétale” Plant mutation) : a profuse and varied production, regularly exhibited at his home, in various public and private exhibition spaces and, most significantly, at the Salon Comparaison of which he was the curator for the Tapestry section. Origin : the artist’s workshop -
Ichtyonis
Tapestry woven in the Raymond workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°EA1. Circa 1980. Originally an engraver (Prix de Rome, intaglio technique in 1942), Jean-Louis Viard designed his first tapestry cartoons in the mid 1950’s. At first his work was figurative (he was collaborating at the time with Picart Le Doux), but then he evolved along the same lines as many other painter-cartoonists of the period (Matégot, Tourlière or Prassinos,...) towards abstraction. He produced scores of cartoons working up until the 2000’s, in parallel to his work as a painter and engraver, but throughout revealing a particular interest for the use of contrasting materials and textures in the tradition of the “Nouvelle Tapisserie” of which Pierre Daquin was one of the leading lights. The inspiration for his motifs, sometimes metaphysical (“Mémoires” Memories, “Destins” Destinies,…) is wide-reaching, from astronomical infinity « ténèbres solaires » solar darkness) to the microscopic (« Mutation végétale” Plant mutation) : a profuse and varied production, regularly exhibited at his home, in various public and private exhibition spaces and, most significantly, at the Salon Comparaison of which he was the curator for the Tapestry section. Origin : the artist’s workshop -
L'oeil ébloui (the dazzled eye)
Tapestry woven in the Clochard workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. Circa 1980.Originally an engraver (Prix de Rome, intaglio technique in 1942), Jean-Louis Viard designed his first tapestry cartoons in the mid 1950’s. At first his work was figurative (he was collaborating at the time with Picart Le Doux), but then he evolved along the same lines as many other painter-cartoonists of the period (Matégot, Tourlière or Prassinos,…) towards abstraction. He produced scores of cartoons working up until the 2000’s, in parallel to his work as a painter and engraver, but throughout revealing a particular interest for the use of contrasting materials and textures in the tradition of the “Nouvelle Tapisserie” of which Pierre Daquin was one of the leading lights. The inspiration for his motifs, sometimes metaphysical (“Mémoires” Memories, “Destins” Destinies,…) is wide-reaching, from astronomical infinity « ténèbres solaires » solar darkness) to the microscopic (« Mutation végétale” Plant mutation) : a profuse and varied production, regularly exhibited at his home, in various public and private exhibition spaces and, most significantly, at the Salon Comparaison of which he was the curator for the Tapestry section. -
Composition
Tapestry woven by the artist. With signed label, and preparatory drawing. Circa 1980.A versatile artist, Laborie has been designing and weaving himself in his workshop in Cornac in the Lot region for around fifty years, using material effects, relief, etc., in an approach similar to that of the protagonists of the ‘New Tapestry’ movement. -
Composition
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. N°EA2. Circa 1980.An artistic all-rounder, who defined himself as “neither a painter, nor a draughtsman, nor a poster artist, nor a writer, nor an engraver. My work is neither abstract nor figurative ... I do not pretend to understand my images, and everyone is free to understand them as they like. I have merely tried to represent my own imaginings, in the hope that others will be able to recognise their own in them”, Folon was an incredibly successful artist, from his illustrations for famous American magazines in the 1960’s, his many poster designs, the works he presented at the Biennials in Venice and in Sao Paolo to the television credits for Antenne 2,... There is therefore no reason to be surprised that he also turned his hand to tapestry design (his largest piece, 80m2 is exhibited at the Centre des Congrès in Monaco, woven, as all his other works in the genre, by the Four workshop), in his characteristic airy and understated style whose inspiration is not a thousand miles from that of his compatriot Magritte. The aesthetic employed in our tapestry is directly descended from watercolour (pale colours that melt into one another), his preferred medium (there is also a lithograph), which makes his work specific and a world away from that of other painter-cartoonists of the same period. The representation of the sun as an eye,a leitmotiv in Folon’s work, overlooking a landscape, bears witness to the particular dream-like character of the universe his art inhabits. -
Ville (city)
A former student at the ENAD in Aubusson, Lartigaud created his first tapestry cartoon in 1968. He went on to design hundreds more, most of them woven by the Four Workshop, in an abstract style occasionally studded with celestial bodies.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Four workshop. With signed label, n°EA. Circa 1980. -
Jeux interplanétaires (interplanetary games)
A former student at the ENAD in Aubusson, Lartigaud created his first tapestry cartoon in 1968. He went on to design hundreds more, most of them woven by the Four Workshop, in an abstract style occasionally studded with celestial bodies.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Four workshop. With label, n°EA. Circa 1970. -
Composition
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Four workshop. N°6/6. Circa 1980.A former student at the ENAD in Aubusson, Lartigaud created his first tapestry cartoon in 1968. He went on to design hundreds more, most of them woven by the Four Workshop, in a, more often than not, abstract style, with a few exceptions, as shown here by the presence of 2 birds. -
Matin d'été (summer morning)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Laurent workshop. With signed label, n°2/6. 1983.A former student at the ENAD in Aubusson, Lartigaud created his first tapestry cartoon in 1968. He went on to design hundreds more, most of them woven by the Four Workshop. Although his cartoons are mainly abstract, there is also a bucolic side to his work, that Fumeron would not have disowned. -
Composition
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Four workshop. N°EA2/2. Circa 1980.A former student at the ENAD in Aubusson, Lartigaud created his first tapestry cartoon in 1968. He went on to design hundreds more, most of them woven by the Four Workshop, in an abstract style occasionally studded with celestial bodies. -
Hautes brandes (High heather)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Four workshop. With label, n°EA1. Circa 1980.A former student at the ENAD in Aubusson, Lartigaud created his first tapestry cartoon in 1968. He went on to design hundreds more, most of them woven by the Four Workshop : Their decorative vocation often vacillates between abstraction and figuration. -
Waistcoat l'enfant aux mirages (child with mirages)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop. 1997.Provenance : Sautour-Gaillard workshopA 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. The 2 waistcoats from the exhibition « Archéologies » which was held at the Inard gallery in 1997, are evidence of the wish expressed at the period by people from Aubusson, which was going through difficult times, to widen their activity : Sautour-Gaillard, who was himself an enthusiastic collector of fabrics, reveals here the same inspiration as in his contemporary woven collages. Bibliography : D. Cavelier, Jean-René Sautour-Gaillard, la déchirure, Lelivredart, 2013, ill. p.6, (worn by the artist) 296 -
La voix du reliquaire (the voice of the reliquary)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°1/3. 1975.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. « La voix du reliquaire » reveals a certain proximity of the artist, in his early work, to the abstract world of Soulages or Schneider. We recognise, transposed into the wool medium, the gestures,the overflows, characteristic of the artists of the “envolée lyrique”, in a severely limited range of colours. Bibliography : D. Cavelier, Jean-René Sautour-Gaillard, la déchirure, Lelivredart, 2013, ill.p.163 -
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. -
Le secret (the secret)
Having established himself in the 1930's in the region around Nantes, Morin worked as an artist in advertising as well as painting and engraving, at first in a figurative style and then evolving towards abstraction from 1954 onwards. His interest in monumental art is revealed in his use of mosaic (particularly within the framework of the government 1% subsidy for art in works produced for schools of the greater Nantes area) but also in tapestry. As early as 1952 he received the first commissions for religious-themed works which would be produced by the Plasse le Caisne workshop (who also worked for Manessier, Le Moal...), before collaborating with Pierre Daquin's Atelier de Saint-Cyr, a major player in the French movement for la Nouvelle Tapisserie, and having several pieces exhibited at the Demeure gallery. From then onwards, until 1982, other designs would be produced by the workshops of the Ecole Regionale des Beaux-Arts in Angers, and later by the artist's own daughter who was herself a weaver. In his collaboration with Daquin (as in the latter's own works) the medium became one with the message, the technical mastery was absolute : the surfaces are animated and vibrant with a complexity of different textures and stitches... and Morin's poetic designs with their delicately symetrical signs, found an ideal expression. Bibliographie : Exhibition Catalogue Jorj Morin, tapisseries, gravures à l'eau-forte, et quelques stèles de mosaïques, Paris, galerie La Demeure, 1974, reproduced Exhibition catalogue Jorj Morin, tapisseries, peintures, gravures, mosaïques, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1991-1992Tapestry woven by the Saint-Cyr workshop. With signed label, n°I/VI. 1971. -
Nature morte (still life)
Gobelins tapestry woven by G. Bonnevialle. Complete with label. 1930-1931 (after a 1921 painting). An establishment artist of classical training, Migonney spent many long years in Algeria, which would furnish the subject of much of his work. He gave several cartoons to the Ecole Nationale d’Art Décoratif in Aubusson (along with Véra, Valtat...), whose exhibition stand at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in 1925 included a panel bearing one of his tapestries. This piece is a detail, woven after the artist’s death, taken from a spectacular work (137x205cm) dating from 1921 which hangs in the Musée de Brou in Bourg en Bresse, “Still life with fruit”. It reveals all the weaving detail and nuances which constituted the art of the Gobelin weavers when reproducing a painting, techniques whose use Lurcat would soon make a point of opposing. Bibliography : Exhibition Cat. Tapisseries 1925, Aubusson, Cité de la Tapisserie, 2012 -
Bouquet d'anniversaire (Birthday bouquet)
Van Vlasselaer (1907-1982) is known for having created numerous monumental wall paintings as well as stain glass windows. From 1950 onwards he created tapestry cartoons inspired by scenes of everyday life, traditional Flemish folklore and natural subjects in keeping with the aesthetic of the group “Forces Murales”. He evolved from the figurative of his early work towards dense designs incorporating sharp-edged foliage laid out against geometrically inspired backgrounds influenced by Cubism. “From 1969 onwards, his style became ever more flamboyant. One of the most remarkable examples is without doubt “Bouquet d’anniversaire”... on a monumental scale... Each detail is strikingly original. The foliage and the blossoms are rendered in such a way to take them beyond their natural condition in a fantastical style that still retains a certain rigour...” (R. Avermaete, van Vlasselaer Tapisseries, p.97) Bibliography : R. Avermaete, van Vlasselaer Tapisseries, Editions Arcade, 1973, ill. p.88Tapestry woven by the Braquenié workshop. 1969. -
La grâce (grace)
Kozo Inoué moved to Paris in 1960 and devoted himself mainly to screen printing. His work was woven by the Four workshop from 1984 onwards. In his works, all of which present “grace” unfolding petals, leaves or butterflies, as if suspended, single (or occasionally multiple) motifs against a contrasting, shaded background.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With signed label, n°5/6. Circa 1990. -
Normands sur la Seine (Norsemen on the Seine)
Tapestry woven at Aubusson by the Pinton workshop. Signed certificate of origin n° 1. 1961. Lars Gynning is one of the numerous artists of various origins whose work would be woven in Aubusson during the years from the 50’s to the 70’s, at a period when tapestry imposed itself as an artistic medium. From a thematic point of view, this cartoon can be seen as a referrence, across the centuries, to Franco-Scandinavian relations seen through the prism of Viking incursions up the Seine estuary : an inevitable throw-back to the Bayeux tapestry. However, rather than a historic or diplomatic statement by Gynning, the cartoon in fact illustrates a saga by Evart Taube, the 20th century Swedish national poet (an extract from the text is woven at the bottom of the tapestry) ; added to the subject itself, the textile rendition of an epic saga is a gesture in the direction of the great mediaeval tapestry tradition, which was an inevitable model for many painter-cartoonists of the period. The aesthetic, which is resolutely contemporary and influenced by cubism, revitalises an ancient subject. -
Les Musiciennes 2 (the musicians 2; detail)
Tapestry woven by the Fino workshop, Portalegre. With label. 1953-1964. -
Foujita is one of a number of artists whose work was woven at Bièvres at the Moulin de Vauboyen (hence the mark MV woven into the tapestries), which was transformed by Pierre de Tartas into an arts centre in 1959 and devoted to figurative art. Many noteworthy names would pass through including Cocteau, Foujita, Erni, Volti … among others, who would produce much work, often monumental, as well as realisations in the applied arts (notably book illustrations) Foujita realised only a few tapestry cartoons, all of which were produced at Bièvres by Pierre de Tartas. This one (an original watercolour 147 x 157 cm) was sold on 8th December 2015 by Tajan, and another preparatory drawing appeared in the Kimiyo Foujita succession (Cornette de St Cyr, 28th October 2013, n°167c). Likenesses of children become (even more) common in the period post 2nd world war : all with the same physical type a large forehead, widely spaced eyes, thin nose, full lips and regularly represented in slightly archaic roles redolent of Poulbot’s work.
Marchande de lait (Milkmaid)
Tapestry woven in the Moulin de Vauboyen workshop. 1965. -
Foujita is one of a number of artists whose work was woven at Bièvres at the Moulin de Vauboyen (hence the mark MV woven into the tapestries), which was transformed by Pierre de Tartas into an arts centre in 1959 and devoted to figurative art. Many noteworthy names would pass through including Cocteau, Foujita, Erni, Volti ... among others, who would produce much work, often monumental, as well as realisations in the applied arts (notably book illustrations) Foujita realised only a few tapestry cartoons, all of which were produced at Bièvres by Pierre de Tartas. In this particular case, unlike the rest of his production, his style is different from that of his paintings : almost monochrome, stylised (quite different from the lithe brushwork of the artist); as for the biblical theme, it can be seen as the result of his recent conversion to catholicism. Another tapestry, of similar dimensions and subject matter, but in a differing, lighter colour scheme, was also woven at Bièvres.
Adam et Eve
Tapestry woven in the Moulin de Vauboyen workshop. 1967. -
Coucher de soleil sur l'Orient (eastern sunset)
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 junks observed during trips to the far East.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With label, n°3/6. Circa 1990. -
Les jonques (junks)
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 junks observed during trips to the far East.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. Circa 1980. -
Mexicaine aux arums (mexican with arum lilies)
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°1/6. Circa 1990. -
Voiles d'Orient (oriental sails)
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 junks observed during trips to the far East.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With label, n°EA. Circa 1980. -
Les enfants (children)
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 children playing in a street on the other side of the planet.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With illegible label, n°EA. Circa 1980. -
Byzance (Byzantium)
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 : here the dome of Hagia Sophia and the Bosphorus transport the observer elsewhere.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. With label, n°3/6. Circa 1980. -
Le grand large (the wide, open sea)
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 a junk observed during trips to the far East.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop. N°1/6. Circa 1980. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
Envie et Gourmandise (les pêchés capitaux) (Envy and Gluttony – the seven deadly sins)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist. 1956. After the traditional completion of some mural paintings in the 1930’s, he then arrived in Aubusson in 1936, became closely associated with Picart le Doux in 1947 and then joined the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie). From then on he devoted himself to tapestry with zeal and designed 167 cartoons, at first figurative following on from Picart le Doux and Saint-Saëns, then, influenced by the scientific themes that he dealt with, tending more towards abstraction. In 1981, two years before his death, he donated his studio to the Musée départemental de la tapisserie in Aubusson. « He considers… in this short but extremely witty series, the vices and his treatment reveals a malicious sense of humour returning in an original way to a theme much used during the middle ages.” (Exhibition catalogue “Hommage à Louis-Marie Jullien, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1983, p.4) Here the subject is a pretext for the representation of animals such as can be found in the work of his contemporaries, notably Picart le Doux with whom he was closely associated. According to the 1983 exhibition catalogue (which is considered to be the catalogue raisonné and in which this piece appears as number 53), only one tapestry was ever woven from this cartoon: it is thus unique. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Hommage à Louis-Marie Jullien, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1983 -
Faiseur d'étoiles (Starmaker)
After the traditional completion of some mural paintings in the 1930’s, he then arrived in Aubusson in 1936, became closely associated with Picart le Doux in 1947 and then joined the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie). From then on he devoted himself to tapestry with zeal and designed 167 cartoons, at first figurative following on from Picart le Doux and Saint-Saëns, then, influenced by the scientific themes that he dealt with, tending more towards abstraction. In 1981, two years before his death, he donated his studio to the Musée départemental de la tapisserie in Aubusson. Jullien’s interest in science and technology was evident early on in his career, at the end of the 1950’s, and this position singled him out somewhat among the other designers of the post-war period known in France as the “30 glorieuses” (despite a few works by Matégot, Maurice André and particularly Millecamps). Jullien imagined in 1961 an exhibition of his works entitled “Espace Poétique de l’Industrie” (Poetry in Industry) where he exhibited “Diamant noir” (the coal mine), Métropolis (oil refineries), ..., and this piece “Faiseur d’étoiles”, an allegory of autogenous welding. Bibliography : Exhibition Catalogue, Espace poétique de l'industrie, galerie La Demeure, 1961 (ill.) Exhibition catalogue Hommage à Louis-Marie Jullien, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1983Aubusson tapestry woven in the André workshop. With signed label, n°3/3. 1957. -
Coquerelle (Pasque flower)
After the traditional completion of some mural paintings in the 1930’s, he then arrived in Aubusson in 1936, became closely associated with Picart le Doux in 1947 and then joined the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie). From then on he devoted himself to tapestry with zeal and designed 167 cartoons, at first figurative following on from Picart le Doux and Saint-Saëns, then, influenced by the scientific themes that he dealt with, tending more towards abstraction. In 1981, two years before his death, he donated his studio to the Musée départemental de la tapisserie in Aubusson. Rather than the purple colour, it is the sound of the name of the flower that was the effect desired by Jullien for the title of this piece. It is contemporaneous with another piece titled “Capucine” which was woven to the same dimensions. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Jullien, de l'aube à l'aurore, Paris, galerie La Demeure, 1969, n°7 Exhibition catalogue Hommage à Louis-Marie Jullien, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1983Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With label, n°4/6. 1967. -
Sarabande
After the traditional completion of some mural paintings in the 1930’s, he then arrived in Aubusson in 1936, became closely associated with Picart le Doux in 1947 and then joined the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie). From then on he devoted himself to tapestry with zeal and designed 167 cartoons, at first figurative following on from Picart le Doux and Saint-Saëns, then, influenced by the scientific themes that he dealt with, tending more towards abstraction. In 1981, two years before his death, he donated his studio to the Musée départemental de la tapisserie in Aubusson. Already, before « Passacaille » which would be produced in 1955, Jullien here reveals his interest in dance and music, recurrent themes although rarely illustrated in such an explicit way, with the guitar and oboe playing as if by magic. Might it be that the notes of the sheet-music are suggested by the bird outlines pictured along the parchment-phylactery ? Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Hommage à Louis-Marie Jullien, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1983Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label. 1954. -
Au coeur de l'ombre (At the heart of darkness)
After the traditional completion of some mural paintings in the 1930’s, he then arrived in Aubusson in 1936, became closely associated with Picart le Doux in 1947 and then joined the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie). From then on he devoted himself to tapestry with zeal and designed 167 cartoons, at first figurative following on from Picart le Doux and Saint-Saëns, then, influenced by the scientific themes that he dealt with, tending more towards abstraction. In 1981, two years before his death, he donated his studio to the Musée départemental de la tapisserie in Aubusson. This cartoon (the only one dating from 1971) is a prelude to 1972, the year of the « ombres » “shadows” : every 13th cartoon he designs that year has the word in its title; a possible reference to the contemporaneous design of stained glass windows for the temple (protestant church) in Villefavard. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Hommage à Louis-Marie Jullien, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1983, n°148 (the model is illustrated)Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°1/3 (and handwritten note "tirage arrêté 1/2" [stopped edition 1/2]). 1971. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
Composition
Little is known about the artist, but she created a number of cartoons, which would be woven in the 60’s by Tabard and Pinton.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With label. Circa 1965. -
Le réviseur (the reviser)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Picaud workshop. With label, n°1/8. Circa 1980. 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. An amusing design, which could be interpreted as the illustration of the antithesis of an author and his editor : here depicted by the curious association of a bird and a fish, in an extremely lively colour scheme. -
Escorte (escort)
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 theme: a heavenly body at the bottom of the sea, ‘escorted’ by worrying fish, a singular dawn (a leitmotif for the artist) of life.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Picaud workshop for the Verrière gallery. With signed label, n°EA. Circa 1970. -
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. -
Les comédiens (The actors)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Legoueix workshop. N°4/6. 1959. Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design...) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology... refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. Themes of music, drama and more specifically the Commedia dell’Arte (« la Comédie Italienne », a cartoon dating from 1947) are omnipresent in Saint-Saëns’s production : here he presents the figures of Lelio and Isabelle, strikingly drawn, slightly humorous figures, presented here in their traditional costumes. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, galerie La Demeure, 1970 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998 -
Le réveille-matin (the alarm clock)
Tapestry woven in the Baudonnet workshop. Complete with signed label. 1959. Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design...) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology... refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. “Saint-Saens who produced a series of birds in 1949 only rarely represented the cock, a recurrent subject for Lurçat. In this piece the cock has no symbolic value but merely announces with gales of crowing and colour the arrival of the new day.” (Exhibition Catalogue Sain-Saëns, œuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 p.48) Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, galerie La Demeure, 1970 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987, ill. p.49 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998 -
Le paon (the peacock)
Tapestry woven by the Baudonnet workshop. With label. 1959.Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design…) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology… refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. The number and variety of animals used in his tapestries by Saint-Saëns is not so rich as others of his contemporaries such as Lurçat, Perrot or Dom Robert, principally known for his peacocks. Here the use, as if off the ground, of a similar motif (despite the fact that it more ressembles a cockerel than a peacock) illustrates the variety of solutions employed by the painter-cartonniers of the period. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, galerie La Demeure, 1970 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998 -
Soleil (Sun)
Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design...) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology... refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. In the 1960’s, Saint-Saëns moved towards a more abstract style using bright, acidic and highly contrasted colours, and accentuated his attraction to the grand themes of Nature “the seasons”, “lightning”...) Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, galerie La Demeure, 1970 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998Tapestry woven by the Baudonnet workshop. N°1/6. Circa 1970. -
Le feu (Fire)
Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design…) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology… refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. « Le Feu » is the 4th in the series « les Quatre éléments », commissioned by Jansen, woven by Dumontet and exhibited in 1946 at the Musée d’Art Moderne. Myths and allegory were a frequent source of inspiration for the artist at this period : “Orion”, “Diane”, “Thésée et le Minotaure” are all contemporary. Here the muscular figure of a Vulcanite blacksmith whose colour evokes glowing embers in dark relief against a flaming background leaves the observer with a long-lasting impression. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue La tapisserie française du Moyen-âge à nos jours, Paris, Musée d’art moderne, 1946 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, Paris, galerie La Demeure, 1970, ill. Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998Aubusson tapestry woven by the Glaudin-Brivet workshop. With signed label, n°EX. 1945. -
Bel canto
Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design…) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology… refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. If Music as a theme is ever-present in Saint-Saëns’s work, the changes that his style underwent in the 1960’s towards a vision that is both more informal and biomorphic, influenced his treatment of it ; but is not the lyricism evident in this piece ideally suited to the expression “Bel Canto” ? Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue La tapisserie française du Moyen-âge à nos jours, Paris, Musée d’art moderne, 1946 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, Paris, galerie La Demeure, 1970, ill. Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998Aubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop. N°4. 1964. -
Eléctricité (electricity)
Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design…) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology… refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. « Lightning » [another title for this cartoon] … bears witness to a new departure for Saint-Saëns, already visible in the 1960’s ; an evocation of cosmic forces [or rather as in this case , physical phenomena] not so much suggested by the drawing’s precision so much as by the strident colours employed…. This tapestry was used for the poster advertising the inauguration of the Aérospatiale Cultural Centre in Toulouse in 1971 » according to Michel Heng, in the exhibition catalogue for the Saint-Saëns exhibition in Aubusson. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, oeuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987, ill. p.47 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapisseries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1997-1998Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. 1970. -
Les buveurs (the drinkers)
Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design...) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology... refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. “The original copy of Les Buveurs (The Drinkers) was commissioned by a friend of the artist.. The cartoon of Les Buveurs, of which 8 copies were produced kept recurring like a rotten apple in the correspondance between Tabard and Saint-Saëns, because of the cost of the weaving. Les Buveurs reflects a solid joie de vivre and can be seen as one more emanation of the rich theme of the vine and the Seasons ...” (Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapisseries, 1935-1979, Angers, p.26). The thematic contrast with the artist’s previous cartoons is striking : Orion, Thésée, les vierges folles, ... The lightness of touch found here will also be found in Le Braconnier (The Poacher) or Le Bouquet (The bouquet). A copy of this tapestry figured in the 1946 exhibition at the Musée National d’Art Moderne “La Tapisserie française du moyen-âge à nos jours” (n°297) Bibliography : Jean Lurçat, Tapisserie Française, Bordas, 1947, ill. pl.42 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, galerie La Demeure, 1970 Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998, ill. p.26 Exhibition catalogue Tissages d’ateliers, tissages d’artistes, dix ans d’enrichissement des collections, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 2004, ill. p.85Aubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop. 1944. -
Ornements (ornaments)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. With certificate of origin signed by the artist, n° 4. 1963. Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design...) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology... refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. This cartoon can be seen as belonging to this particular style. Here is an extract from the 1987 catalogue of his works (p37) : “Ornements, a purely decorative tapestry, resembles Dédale, Biologie (property of the Head office of the CNRS), Bel Canto, in its pure and ample style, flowing and lyrical, very close to the painted studies where Saint-Saëns loosed his passion for freely spread colour.” This cartoon was produced in a series of 5. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 (tapestry included in the exhibition but not illustrated in the catalogue) Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998 (ill.p 22) Exhibition Catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, galerie Moulins, PAD 2010 (ill. p.16) -
Oiseaux et feuillages (birds and leaves)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. With certificate of origin signed by the artist. 1961. Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design…) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology… refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. ‘[This cartoon] was a success (7 copies) and there are 2 versions: one with a burgundy background, the other with a black background. Once again Saint-Saëns refers to the great tradition of "verdures tapestries" populated by animals and flowers, an art of unpretentious relaxation....’ (Michèle Heng in Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987, p.34) Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998 -
Le jardin d'amour (the garden of love)
Tapestry, probably woven in Aubusson. 1947. Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, originally a painter of murals, in 1940. And during the war the latter produced the first of his allegorical masterpieces, tapestries reflecting indignation, combat, resistance : “les Vierges folles (the foolish virgins), “Thésée et le Minotaure” (Theseus and the Minotaur). At the end of the war, as a natural development he joined up with Lurçat, whose convictions he shared (concerning a simplified palette, outlined cartoons with colours indicated by pre-ordained numbers, and the specific nature of tapestry design…) at the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie). His universe, where the human figure, stretched, elongated, ooccupies an important place (particularly when compared to his companions Lurçat or Picart le Doux), pivots around traditional themes : woman, the Commedia dell’arte, Greek mythology… refined by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. His work would evolve later, in the 1960’s, towards cartoons of a more lyrical design, almost abstract where elemental and cosmic forces would dominate. ‘Le jardin d'amour’, an evocative allegory of the terrestrial paradise sometimes illustrated in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, bears witness to the classical references of Saint-Saëns who, in the same year, conceived "Orphée" and "La Comédie italienne" : theatre, ancient myths and biblical references (the “Vierges folles” cartoon also comes to mind) were omnipresent sources of inspiration. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue Saint-Saëns, the tapestries, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1987 Exhibition catalogue Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine 1997-1998 -
La mare aux oiseaux (The bird pond)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. N° II. 1941. Gromaire’s woven pieces are few in number : 11 cartoons, designed between 1938 and 1944, most of them in Aubusson. “His rigorous construction, his use of simplification, his penchant for grand composition and grand fundamental ideas, his knowledgeable use of colour and in sum his supreme quality as a master-craftsman, all of those things were to make of him one of the most expert tapestry artists of his time”, so wrote Jean Cassou (Exhibition catalogue, Marcel Gromaire, Paris, Musée Nationale d’art moderne, 1963). It was Guillaume Janneau, then in the chair of the Mobilier National, who contacted him in 1938, convinced that his style (simplification of shape, geometrical designs framed in black, influenced by cubism, limited colour schemes…) would have something to contribute to the resolution of the new aesthetic problems that the art of tapestry would have to confront in order to bring about its renewal (simplified palette, synthetic cartoon design...) firstly with a commission for a work on the theme of the four elements, then with a second (“les saisons”, the seasons) which would be produced at Aubusson. In 1940 Gromaire joined Lurçat and Dubrueil there. Working alone, with great meticulosity (numerous drawings anticipate the cartoon which is painted rather than numbered as with Lurçat), in close collaboration with Suzanne Goubely, who would weave all his cartoons, he spent 4 years in Aubusson, during which time he devoted all his creative energy to tapestry. At the end of the war, he left the Creuse and produced no more cartoons, leaving to Lurçat the position of grand initiator of the tapestry renewal movement. The bird pond is typical of the aesthetic expressed by Gromaire in his tapestries, by its extremely decorative, almost dream-like quality (quite different from his graphic works), by the choice of subject, both animal and vegetable (and even architectural) and particularly influenced by the Creuse region. It is the extraordinary density, the proliferation and profusion which are particularly striking and which make Gromaire’s work in textile so inimitable. Bibliography : Le Point, Aubusson et la renaissance de la tapisserie, mars 1946, ill. p.34 André Lejard (dir.), French Tapestry, Paul Elek publishers, 1946, ill. p.103 Muraille et laine, éditions pierre Tisné, 1946, ill. n°51 Exhibition catalogue Tapisseries d’Aubusson, Luxembourg, Galerie d’art municipale, 1982, n° 3 Exhibition catalogue, Gromaire, œuvre tissée, Aubusson, Musée de la tapisserie, 1995, ill. p. 51 Exhibition catalogue La manufacture des Gobelins dans la première moitié du XXe siècle, Beauvais, Galerie nationale de la tapisserie, 1999 -
Oiseaux de proie (Birds of prey)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. With label, signed with stamp, and by the artit's son, n°6/6. 1941.Gromaire’s woven pieces are few in number : 11 cartoons, designed between 1938 and 1944, most of them in Aubusson. “His rigorous construction, his use of simplification, his penchant for grand composition and grand fundamental ideas, his knowledgeable use of colour and in sum his supreme quality as a master-craftsman, all of those things were to make of him one of the most expert tapestry artists of his time”, so wrote Jean Cassou (Exhibition catalogue, Marcel Gromaire, Paris, Musée Nationale d’art moderne, 1963). It was Guillaume Janneau, then in the chair of the Mobilier National, who contacted him in 1938, convinced that his style (simplification of shape, geometrical designs framed in black, influenced by cubism, limited colour schemes…) would have something to contribute to the resolution of the new aesthetic problems that the art of tapestry would have to confront in order to bring about its renewal (simplified palette, synthetic cartoon design...) firstly with a commission for a work on the theme of the four elements, then with a second (“les saisons”, the seasons) which would be produced at Aubusson. In 1940 Gromaire joined Lurçat and Dubreuil there. Working alone, with great meticulosity (numerous drawings anticipate the cartoon which is painted rather than numbered as with Lurçat), in close collaboration with Suzanne Goubely, who would weave all his cartoons, he spent 4 years in Aubusson, during which time he devoted all his creative energy to tapestry. At the end of the war, he left the Creuse and produced no more cartoons, leaving to Lurçat the position of grand initiator of the tapestry renewal movement. « Oiseaux de proie » is one of the 5 tapestry cartoons designed by Gromaire for the Goubely workshop during the war and it is emblematic of his style : inspired by local landscapes, the absence of perspective, the strictly organised yet rich and highly abundant style, a limited palette (it is interesting to note the use at this period when France was occupied, the dominant colours of red, white and blue)... The atmosphere of this piece is more menacing than that of other pre-existing works.Bibliography : Tapisseries contemporaines Lurçat Gromaire, éditions Braun et cie, 1943, ill. Le Point, Aubusson et la renaissance de la Tapisserie, mars 1946, ill. p.35 Jean Lurçat, Tapisserie française, Bordas, 1947, plate 25 J. Cassou, M. Damain, R. Moutard-Uldry, la tapisserie française et les peintres cartonniers, Tel, 1957 Exhibition catalogue, Gromaire, œuvre tissée, Aubusson, Musée de la tapisserie, 1995, reproduced on p. 49 Symposium Jean Lurçat et la renaissance de la tapisserie in Aubusson, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie 1992, ill. n°14 (detail) Exhibition catalogue La manufacture des Gobelins dans la première moitié du XXe siècle, Beauvais, Galerie nationale de la tapisserie, 1999. -
Aubusson
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Goubely workshop. 1940.Gromaire’s woven pieces are few in number : 11 cartoons, designed between 1938 and 1944, most of them in Aubusson. “His rigorous construction, his use of simplification, his penchant for grand composition and grand fundamental ideas, his knowledgeable use of colour and in sum his supreme quality as a master-craftsman, all of those things were to make of him one of the most expert tapestry artists of his time”, so wrote Jean Cassou (Exhibition catalogue, Marcel Gromaire, Paris, Musée Nationale d’art moderne, 1963). It was Guillaume Janneau, then in the chair of the Mobilier National, who contacted him in 1938, convinced that his style (simplification of shape, geometrical designs framed in black, influenced by cubism, limited colour schemes…) would have something to contribute to the resolution of the new aesthetic problems that the art of tapestry would have to confront in order to bring about its renewal (simplified palette, synthetic cartoon design...) firstly with a commission for a work on the theme of the four elements, then with a second (“les saisons”, the seasons) which would be produced at Aubusson. In 1940 Gromaire joined Lurçat and Dubreuil there. Working alone, with great meticulosity (numerous drawings anticipate the cartoon which is painted rather than numbered as with Lurçat), in close collaboration with Suzanne Goubely, who would weave all his cartoons, he spent 4 years in Aubusson, during which time he devoted all his creative energy to tapestry. At the end of the war, he left the Creuse and produced no more cartoons, leaving to Lurçat the position of grand initiator of the tapestry renewal movement. « Aubusson » is one of the 5 tapestry cartoons that Gromaire designed for the Goubely workshop during the War, and it is emblematic of his « stained glass window » style, busy and geometric. And even if one recognises some of the emblematic features of Aubusson (the clock tower, the church of Sainte Croix...), which Gromaire was coming to know at the time, the town appears to be squeezed in by the rugged natural features that surround it (to which the artist was particularly attracted as can be seen from the many drawings made at this time) steep cliffs and rushing rivers and streams.Interestingly, a copy of this cartoon, woven later in 1960, was displayed in the ocean liner “France”, the only tapestry whose conception predated the commission for the decorative hangings ; what better symbol could there be as a medium (tapestry) and a subject (France’s own landscape) both vectors of tradition, to portray the modernity of French style (Bruno Foucart), and the liner “France” herself. Bibliography : Tapisseries contemporaines Lurçat Gromaire, éditions Braun et cie, 1943, ill. Le Point, Aubusson et la renaissance de la Tapisserie, mars 1946, ill. Formes et couleurs, n°5-6, 1942, ill. L’amour de l’art, la tapisserie Française, 1946, ill. p.185 Jean Lurçat, Tapisserie française, Bordas, 1947 J. Cassou, M. Damain, R. Moutard-Uldry, la tapisserie française et les peintres cartonniers, Tel, 1957 Symposium Jean Lurçat et la renaissance de la tapisserie in Aubusson, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie 1992 Exhibition catalogue Jean Lurçat, compagnons de route et passants considérables, Eglise de Felletin, 1992, ill. p. 25 (and detail on front cover) Exhibition catalogue, Gromaire, œuvre tissée, Aubusson, Musée de la tapisserie, 1995, ill. p. 53 (and on front cover) Exhibition catalogue La manufacture des Gobelins dans la première moitié du XXe siècle, Beauvais, Galerie nationale de la tapisserie, 1999 Armelle Bouchet Mazas, le paquebot France, Paris, 2006, ill. p.67 Aubusson, Cité internationale de la tapisserie, guide du visiteur, 2016, ill.p.57 -
Fleurs et feuilles (flowers and leaves)
Multi-talented artist (poet, lyricist, painter and even antiques dealer,…) Saint-Martin, who assisted Lurçat at the beginning of the 1950’s, started designing his own cartoons in 1956 and they were woven in the Braquenié workshop. His is a dream-like, stylised and dramatised world : here, symbols of order and discipline (the still life composition, the wrought iron balustrade...) contrast with the unsettling, unfettered profusion of the branches on each side.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Braquenié workshop. With label. Circa 1960. -
Fireworks
Mark Adams made his first tapestry cartoons in 1952 (a multi-talented artist he also painted murals and designed stain-glass windows…). He arrived in France in 1955, working with Lurçat at Tours Saint-Laurent and also at the Ecole Nationale d’Art Décoratif in Aubusson. One of the very few American peintres-cartonniers, he participated in the Biennales de Lausanne, and produced over a hundred cartoons most of which were woven in Aubusson, notably by Paul Avignon. Recognised above all for his tapestry designs featuring wing motifs, Mark Adams sought inspiration in many and varied fields. Our "tapestry is related to the "Fire fountain" tapestry, and is another design that focuses on the display pattern from the light and sparks of a fireworks display against the dark sky (Multi-authored, Mark Adams, catalogue raisonné of tapestries, Stanford University Press, 2012, n°033, p.91). Bibliography : Multi-authored, Mark Adams, catalogue raisonné of tapestries, Stanford University Press, 2012Aubusson tapestry woven by the Avignon workshop. 1960. -
Enclos végétal (plant enclosure)
Representing the prolific Belgian school of modern tapestry, Mary Dambiermont, is one of its most sensitive protagonists whose work is resolutely figurative. She made her tapestry début at the age of 24 in 1956 and that led her to a close collaboration with the Braquenié establishment in 1958 and from there to two participations in the Biennales de tapisserie in Lausanne in 1962 and 1965. The world she inhabits is a singular place peopled with hieratic figures, often feminine who inhabit dream-like landscapes which are strange and occasionally troubling. In 1966 she presented an exhibition of 20 tapestries all dealing with the theme of enclosure : although no wall or fence is visible, perhaps the reference is an allusion to the mediaeval “hortus conclusus". Bibliography : Paul Caso, Mary Dambiermont, Editions Arts et voyages, 1975, ill p.110Tapestry woven by the Braquenié workshop. Circa 1965. -
Remous (swell)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Tabard workshop. Circa 1960. 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... Remous can be seen as representative of Matégot’s production around 1960 : lyrical, playing with transparency, using all the technical expertise of the weavers (colour shading and grading…) Its evocative title is a reminder of the artist’s interest for aquatic subjects (cf “Régates”) treated in an abstract-metaphorical way. Bibliography : Exhibition Cat. Les tapisseries de Mathieu Matégot, galerie La Demeure, 1962 (ill.) Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 -
Le soleil de Tijuana (the Tijuana sun)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Signed certificate of origin. Circa 1960. 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... Matégot, recognised as an avant garde designer, an admired creator of furniture and decorative objects, also produced an essentially abstract body of tapestry work. However this is not an example of pure abstraction : but rather the evocation of a place (there are also “Mindanao”, “Santa Barbara”....) of its climate, using all the technical means offered by the medium : transparency, graduations, shading... Origin : contents of the Pinton workshop Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 -
Ombres et lumières (light and shadow)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist. Circa 1965. 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... This tapestry reveals Matégot’s preoccupation with the interplay of light and shadow which is often revealed in the titles of his works (cf. “Lumière d’été”, auctioned Millon-Robert 7.11.90, n° 31, reproduced on the cover of the catalogue, “Piège de lumière” preserved at the Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine and reproduced p 47 of the exhibition catalogue). Here the cartoon uses an abrupt contrast, like a ray of light, between two opaque (with faults however) and black (but shaded) blocks. In fact all of Matégot’s works reveal the interplay of transparency and superposition, as if light (albeit fatal to the colours he uses) was trying to force its way through the wool. Origin : contents of the Pinton workshop Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 -
La flamme (the flame)
Portalegre tapestry woven by the Fino workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°2/6. Circa 1965. 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... An abstract cartoon characteristic of the artist’s production in the mid-1960’s : the evocation of the flame, stylised and in an agressive violet hue, refers directly to Matégot’s interest in industry and all things technical but also to the interplay of woven transparencies of which he made himself a master. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 -
Soleil carré (square sun)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°EX-A. Circa 1965. 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... « Soleil carré » (Square sun - a contradiction in terms) also illustrates Matégot’s style in the mid-60’s, where shadow and light are in open confrontation : from the upper right hand part of the tapestry the colours radiate outwards dispersing the darkness in concentric fashion. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014 -
Dragon dans la nuit (a dragon in the night)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°1/6. Circa 1965. 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... The cartoon is characterised by the habitual contrast of light and shadow, typical of those of this period ; the title, however, conveys a more figurative context, evoking a fantastic beast breathing flames (and indeed illustrated in fire) to disperse the darkness. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014 -
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… « Structure et lumière » is a self-explanatory title : at this period Matégot’s tapestries are strongly contrasted, using effects of transparency as in stained glass windows (cf. “Piège de lumière”, “Shadows and light »,…). As for « structure » it refers both to his work as an interior designer whose function is to occupy space and organise it - even within the tapestry itself, despite its apparently haphazard lyricism. Bibliography : Madeleine Jarry, la Tapisserie art du XXe siècle, Office du Livre, 1974, ill. n°115 Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991, ill. p.44 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014, ill. p.335 pictured with the artist in front of his work at the 1990 exhibition.
Structure et lumière (structure and light)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. 1964. -
Santa Barbara II
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°2/6. 1960. -
Les eaux dormantes (sleeping waters)
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... In these « sleeping waters » Matégot invites us into a familiar contrast in his universe between obscurity and brightness, darkness and light : a luminous abstraction revolving around red, yellow and black, a chromatic range that seems far removed from the title. Bibliography : Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014 Exhibition Catalogue, Lurçat/Matégot, Face à face, Paris, Galerie Chevalier, 2019Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°2/6. Circa 1970. -
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... While Matégot's interest in aeronautics was very strong at the time (his tapestry for Orly in particular dates from 1959, ‘Cap Canaveral’ from 1958...), his liking for the treatment of great myths is echoed here: Icarus (there was also ‘Vulcan’, ‘Daedalus’...), serves as a transition, in an identical treatment (to be compared with ‘Orly’), to evoke the same conquest of the Air... Bibliography : Waldemar Georges, Mathieu Matégot, Prisme des Arts special issue, 1957 Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991, ill. p.31 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014
Icare (Icarus)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop. N°1/6. 1960. -
Algues en profondeurs (algae in the depths)
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... The palette of colours, “ camouflage style”,used in this tapestry heralds the look of cartoons to come from this artist but the lyrical treatment of shade and light are absolutely characteristic of the 1960’s. : if the subject (the seabed) is rare, we find the usual effects of transparency rendered by subtle gradations in a limited chromatic range. Bibliography : Waldemar Georges, Mathieu Matégot, Prisme des Arts special issue, 1957 Exhibition catalogue, Matégot, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1990-1991 Patrick Favardin, Mathieu Matégot, Editions Norma, 2014Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. Circa 1960. -
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. -
Composition
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. N°1/6. Circa 1970.Maurice André settled in Aubusson for the duration of the second world war. A founding member of the group “Tapisserie de France” and a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie), he developed a personal style, different from that of Lurçat, characterised by rigorous, cubist-influenced flat areas of colour, often using a limited palette ; he received large-scale public commissions for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (“L’Europe unie dans le Travail et la Paix”) or for the French pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition in 1958 (“La Technique moderne au service de l’Homme”). Gradually (as with Wogensky and Prassinos,...) his style evolved towards more abstraction, firstly lyrical and then more and more geometric, in a way very similar to Matégot. Characteristic of André’s final period, the geometric shapes and flat areas of colour are tempered by hatching, stripes and shading. -
Vercors
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°2/6. Circa 1965.Maurice André settled in Aubusson for the duration of the second world war. A founding member of the group “Tapisserie de France” and a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie), he developed a personal style, different from that of Lurçat, characterised by rigorous, cubist-influenced flat areas of colour, often using a limited palette ; he received large-scale public commissions for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (“L’Europe unie dans le Travail et la Paix”) or for the French pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition in 1958 (“La Technique moderne au service de l’Homme”). Gradually (as with Wogensky and Prassinos,...) his style evolved towards more abstraction, firstly lyrical and then more and more geometric, in a way very similar to Matégot. In the mid 1960’s André’s style becomes comparable to that of Matégot, where battage, pick and pick and shading are the norm. Varying shades of green and triangular shapes are the means of evoking the peaks of the Vercors. -
Aubusson
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Andraud-Dethève workshop. 1943.Maurice André settled in Aubusson for the duration of the second world war. A founding member of the group “Tapisserie de France” and a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie), he developed a personal style, different from that of Lurçat, characterised by rigorous, cubist-influenced flat areas of colour, often using a limited palette ; he received large-scale public commissions for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (“L’Europe unie dans le Travail et la Paix”) or for the French pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition in 1958 (“La Technique moderne au service de l’Homme”). Gradually (as with Wogensky and Prassinos,...) his style evolved towards more abstraction, firstly lyrical and then more and more geometric, in a way very similar to Matégot. « Aubusson », Maurice André’s first tapestry cartoon, illustrates both how he adheres to Lurçat’s principles of technique (counted threads, large flat areas of colour...) and how his aesthetic can be seen to be different (as it is from Gromaire’s own treatment of the same subject some years earlier). His closest influence at the time is in fact Dubrueil, his father-in-law, his own stylistic emancipation would come a little later. The historical importance of the cartoon is undeniable : it is one of the rare illustrations of the town (even more synthesised than Gromaire’s version) at a time when the Tapestry Renaissance was in its infancy. -
Nuit sidérale (astral night)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label. Circa 1965.Maurice André settled in Aubusson for the duration of the second world war. A founding member of the group “Tapisserie de France” and a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie), he developed a personal style, different from that of Lurçat, characterised by rigorous, cubist-influenced flat areas of colour, often using a limited palette ; he received large-scale public commissions for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (“L’Europe unie dans le Travail et la Paix”) or for the French pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition in 1958 (“La Technique moderne au service de l’Homme”). Gradually (as with Wogensky and Prassinos,...) his style evolved towards more abstraction, firstly lyrical and then more and more geometric, in a way very similar to Matégot. In the mid 1960’s André’s style becomes comparable to that of Matégot, where battage, pick and pick and shading are the norm. By its theme, its technique, its colour scheme, its format, this particular cartoon is close to « Grand nocturne » copies of which are to be found at the Musée Jean Lurçat and the musée de la tapisserie contemporaine in Angers. -
Le soleil d'Apremont (the sun of Apremont)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Picaud workshop. With signed label, n°1/4. Circa 1965.Maurice André settled in Aubusson for the duration of the second world war. A founding member of the group “Tapisserie de France” and a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie), he developed a personal style, different from that of Lurçat, characterised by rigorous, cubist-influenced flat areas of colour, often using a limited palette ; he received large-scale public commissions for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (“L’Europe unie dans le Travail et la Paix”) or for the French pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition in 1958 (“La Technique moderne au service de l’Homme”). Gradually (as with Wogensky and Prassinos,...) his style evolved towards more abstraction, firstly lyrical and then more and more geometric, in a way very similar to Matégot. In the mid 1960’s André’s style becomes comparable to that of Matégot, made of lyrical ensembles of triangular shapes, in a homogenous colour scheme and sprinkled with stripes, stains, marks... often black, where different techniques specific to the weaver’s art are used to accentuate the impression of volume and depth. -
Danseuses cambodgiennes (Cambodian dancers)
Tapestry woven at Aubusson by the Picaud workshop. Certificate of origin, n° 1/4. Circa 1965. Although somewhat overlooked now, the contribution that Maurice Ferréol made, in the 1960’s, to the design of figurative tapestry is quite remarkable. He proposed a style redolent of popular imagery where the use of pure blocks of colour exacerbates the almost childlike outline of the figures. What connects these bright and garishly coloured, masked figures to Cambodia? They are simply a pretext for a profusion of colours and motifs in the particular characteristic style of Ferréol. -
La cueillette (Harvest)
Tapestry. 1943. Artiste polyvalent (graveur, médailleur, céramiste, fresquiste…), Savin est sollicité pendant la guerre par Guillaume Janneau, qui admire la monumentalité intemporelle et réaliste de son esthétique (et dont il soupçonnait qu’elle n’aurait nul besoin de transposition pour convenir à la Tapisserie), pour concevoir des cartons pour les Manufactures Nationales : « les plaisirs et les travaux champêtres » ( 4 cartons), puis les « 12 mois de l’année » sont créés simultanément à son travail avec la Compagnie des Arts Français. L’influence des aspects techniques de la tapisserie médiévale est très prégnante chez l’artiste, attentif aux colorants naturels en gamme réduite, aux formes simples permises par la technique du gros point,… Il fut l’un des artistes les plus représentés à l’exposition séminale de 1946, avec 7 pièces (seuls Lurçat, Saint-Saëns et Gromaire en eurent plus). « La cueillette » est contemporaine du carton conçu pour les Gobelins : « La cueillette des pommes », issue de la tenture sur « les plaisirs et travaux champêtres ». On y trouve les mêmes caractéristiques propres à l’artiste : gamme chromatique limitée mais vive, formes simplifiées et monumentales, densité de la composition, et une saveur rustique tout droit venue de la tapisserie médiévale. Bibliographie : Cat. Expo. La tapisserie française du Moyen-âge à nos jours, Paris, Musée d’art moderne, 1946 Cat. Expo. Le Mobilier National et les Manufactures Nationales sous la IVe République, Beauvais, Galerie nationale de la Tapisserie, 1997 Cat. Expo. La Manufacture des Gobelins dans la 1ère moitié du XXe siècle, Beauvais, Galerie nationale de la Tapisserie, 1999 -
Soleil d'hiver (Winter sun)
Michel Degand, is an artist who expresses himself in many different media (painting, sculpture, illustration,…) and who has in 50 creative years, conceived over a hundred tapestry cartoons, whose inspiration is perpetually evolving, sometimes dreamlike or cosmic (reminiscent of Wogensky), at other times « technological » (like Millecamps), often lyrical, with a marked interest in the material itself, and most of his work has been woven in the Pinton workshop at Felletin. The sun is a regular leitmotiv for this artist ; but in this fragmented composition he works in fragments of older tapestries (using finer stiching), as would Sautour-Gaillard in the 1990’s, making them appear to be glued into the original motif, a technique which results in thought-provoking juxtapositions. Bibliography : Multi-authored, Michel Degand, Moments d'ateliers, Area, 2001, repr. p.38Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. N°1/1. Circa 1980. -
Eveil du jour (Awakening of the day)
Michel Degand, is an artist who expresses himself in many different media (painting, sculpture, illustration,…) and who has in 50 creative years, conceived over a hundred tapestry cartoons, whose inspiration is perpetually evolving, sometimes dreamlike or cosmic (reminiscent of Wogensky), at other times « technological » (like Millecamps), often lyrical, with a marked interest in the material itself, and most of his work has been woven in the Pinton workshop at Felletin. In this respect, our cartoon is a synthesis of these different modes of expression; we can add to it a study on geometry, on material and its chromatic effects, , on depth and relief, on empty space in a wide format, etc. Bibliography : Multi-authored, Michel Degand, Moments d'ateliers, Area, 2001Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label, n°1/1. Circa 1980. -
Papillons de cocagne (ideal butterflies)
Aubusson tapestry, woven in the Picaud workshop. Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist. Circa 1970. Michèle Van Hout le Beau designed numerous cartoons in the 1960’s and 70’s, working in collaboration with several workshops in Aubusson and receiving some state commissions (she participated along with Soulages, Lagrange, Alechinsky and others in the decoration of the transatlantic Boeing 707’s for Air France). Her style often involves the use of strident colours (very evocative of the 1970’s) from which emerge foliage, stylised human or animal figures. This cartoon, with its acidic colours is particularly characteristic of the artist’s style ; here we can also observe, on a theme abundantly developed by Lurçat, the different way in which the butterflies are evoked : the subject is here a pretext for highly coloured, geometrical evocations approaching abstraction. -
Rêve gris (Grey dream)
An unreferenced artist, Monique Brix submitted a few tapestry cartoons to Aubusson which were woven by the Glaudin-Brivet or Pinton workshops.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Glaudin-Brivet workshop. With signed label, n°6/6. Circa 1980. -
Composition
It is perhaps the association with Pierre Vago, the architect who was her husband, that inspired Nicole Cormier to take an interest in mural art (cv. “Soleil levant” for the university at Villeneuve d’Ascq) ; in the 1970’s she designed and made hangings sewn from felt and cotton textiles and designed cartoons for tapestries some of which were woven by Pierre Daquin notably.Tapestry woven in the Saint-Cyr workshop. With signed label, n°EA1. Circa 1980. -
Solaire (solar )
Aubusson tapestry woven in Pinton workshop. With a label signed by the artist, n°2/6. Circa 1970.Odette Caly, who specialised in the depiction of bouquets, designed numerous cartoons for Aubusson, woven in the Pinton, Henry or Hamot workshops. Her inspiration, rather rural usually, has oriented here towards more exotic flowers, highlighted by the green background. Bibliography : Multi-authored, Caly, Filmed Publications of Art and History, 1972, reproduced No. 24 -
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. -
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. -
Horizon bleu (blue horizon)
Tapestry woven by the Atelier 3 workshop for the Attali gallery. With label, n°1/6. 1976.A protagonist of geometric abstraction and, as such, championed by the Denise René gallery, a major promoter of abstract tapestry (‘Distances’, was woven in 1973, one of the last cartoons to be woven by Tabard for the gallery), Morisson stands out for his compositions in bands chromatically harmonised in gradations. This is the aesthetic that prevails in our tapestry; although the A3 studio has been best known for weaving lyrical abstracts (Alechinsky, Arthus-Bertrand, Miotte...), which are more conducive to technical side-steps, the spectrum of its creations is actually very broad : Cathelin, Malel, Lindström, Druillet.... or, geometrical too, Mortensen. -
La vérité cruelle d'un ancien jeu (the crual truth of an old game)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label. 1970. Best known as an engraver (and, be it said, one of the most important of the XXth century), Pierre Courtin designed several tapestry cartoons (of which one measuring 110m2 (!) is to be seen at the International Labour Organization in Geneva), some of which, like ours, are taken from his engravings.. In this piece, the particular and personal aesthetic of the artist is revealed in the original grouping together of geometrical forms, which can be seen as a little reminiscent of ancient civilisations (pre-columbian particularly). Strange also the choice of colour scheme of this artist, who distances himself from the strong colour contrasts characteristic of his colleagues. -
Tropiques (Tropics)
On returning to France in the 1950’s after a lengthy period spent in Argentina, Berroeta produced quite a number of cartoons in a style which was first figurative (animals, human figures,...) then turned to abstraction, as in his paintings. The influence of cubism and a lyrical sense of colour cohabit here in a cartoon which could be seen as a reminiscence of South America.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. Circa 1955. -
Composition
On returning to France in the 1950’s after a lengthy period spent in Argentina, Berroeta produced quite a number of cartoons in a style which was first figurative (animals, human figures,...) then turned to abstraction, as in his paintings. If he adopts here the motif of fish, very common at the time in contemporary tapestry (cf. Lurçat, Picart le Doux), Berroeta can be considered to have a certain legitimacy in exploiting this subject as it is one he has used on several occasions, in “Mer du Sud” (the south sea) for example.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. Circa 1950. -
Kenya
On returning to France in the 1950’s after a lengthy period spent in Argentina, Berroeta produced quite a number of cartoons in a style which was first figurative (animals, human figures,...) then turned to abstraction, as in his paintings. Exotic inspiration is a recurrent theme in Berroeta's work, often in an allusive way: neither the animals nor the plants are definitively identifiable, together, they have an allegorical purpose.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label. Circa 1960. -
Vendémiaire
The story is well known: following the commission for the ‘4 Parts of the World’ to be woven at the Gobelins, Dubreuil was one of the 3 artists, along with Gromaire and Lurçat, sent by Guiillaume Janneau, administrator of the Manufactures Nationales, to Aubusson at the end of 1939, to renovate local tapestry production (with the commission for a set of tapestries on the theme of Gardens). Although he shared Lurçat's ideas on the influence that medieval tapestry should have in revitalising the medium, his abundant and resolutely naturalistic cartoons (lacking the dreamlike quality of Coutaud, for example) distanced him from his colleague, in favour of a closer relationship with the work of Maingonnat. Our tapestry bears witness to Dubreuil's collaboration with Antoine Behna's A.R.T. (Atelier de Rénovation de la Tapisserie), of which Janneau, discredited for his role during the War, was the artistic and technical adviser. The allegorical register bears witness to Dubreuil's classicism, between academic nudes and still lifes reflecting the History of Painting. This workshop wove in both high and low heddle : the 1990 sale catalogue included one example woven in each technique. Bibliography : G. Janneau, A. Behna, Tapisseries de notre temps, 1950, ill. n°64 Millon-Robert sale catalogue 3.10.1990 n°28-29, 64Tapestry woven by Coffinet for Ami de la Paix. Circa 1945. -
Bouquet d'automne (autumn bouquet)
A student at the ENAD, Goffinet was a close collaborator of Dirk Holger whose influence (as also that of Prassinos) is notable in the rare tapestries woven from cartoons of his design. On occasion, as in this case, he wove his designs himself.Aubusson tapestry. N°EA1. Circa 1975. -
Métamorphoses (metamorphosis)
A disciple of Jacques Adnet, Pothier produced his first cartoons (of which « Metamorphoses » is one) for the former, woven in the Pinton workshop for the Compagnie des Arts français, before moving on to produce 5 more for the Manufactures Nationales. His work which is exuberant, dense, strongly influenced by surrealism but also references Arcimboldo (a claim he made himself), is like no other. It does however inevitably refer back, like other artists working at the same time and in the same domain, to the mille-fleurs style of the middle ages. To these diverse influences (which give a strange dreamlike quality to this cartoon) Pothier brings, in « Métamorphoses », his predilection for a limited colour palette (3 distinct hues !) and a sense of humour (the discreet signature incorporated into the body of the figure (?) on the left). This design would be reversed and enlarged in the tapestry (woven in 1961 at Les Gobelins) « Madrépores en fleurs ».Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop, for the Compagnie des Arts Français. With illegible label. Circa 1950. -
Fleurs éclatées (shattered flowers)
Known essentially as a sculptor, Segeron produced a certain number of cartoons, woven by Legoueix in Aubusson. In a variety of colours and under a number of different titles, we are confronted by a scattering, almost as though torn, of similar shape-designs rather like strange rhizomes or capillary networks.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop. With label, n°1/6. Circa 1980. -
Gestation
Known essentially as a sculptor, Segeron produced a certain number of cartoons, woven by Legoueix in Aubusson. In a variety of colours and under a number of different titles, we are confronted by a scattering, almost as though torn, of similar shape-designs rather like strange rhizomes or capillary networks.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop. With label, n°2/6. Circa 1980. -
Couple génétique (Genetic couple)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With label. 1976.In this work – which is apparently the only cartoon by this artist – the deft line and clear drawing technique of Trémois are immediately recognisable. He is best known for his work as an engraver and illustrator, albeit having won the Grand Prix de Rome for his painting. Also evident, his predilection for the nude : here a loving embrace and a meditation on modern science are found in association in a surprising, and very personal, juxtaposition. -
Courrier Sud (mail heading south)
Aubusson tapestry, woven for Jean Laurent. With label, n°1/6. 1976.Better known for his geometrically inspired paintings incorporating on occasion mechanical elements, Gachon who came originally from Aubusson, did however design a certain number of tapestry cartoons. This particular example is somewhat atypical of his work. -
Les gaîtés du soir (evening gaieties)
Aubusson tapestry, woven in the Tabard workshop. With signed label, n°1. Circa 1968.Better known for his geometrically inspired paintings incorporating on occasion mechanical elements, Gachon designed several tapestry cartoons even from the early days of his career as his contacts with the Tabard workshop from the late 1960’s reveal. This design shows the influence on the young man of lyrical abstraction, an artistic current which finds little expression generally in tapestry. -
Epouvantail de lunes (Moon scarecrow)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pérathon workshop Complete with certificate of origin signed by the artist, n°1. Circa 1970. Better known for his machine woven panels reminiscent of the work of Picart le Doux, Hurtu also made a few rather more inspired cartoons which were hand woven. -
Le village d'Eze (the village of Eze)
In a decorative post-cubist style redolent of Toffoli, Raymond Poulet here interprets one of the most spectacular locations on the côteAubusson tapestry woven by the Jean Laurent workshop. N°3/6. Circa 1980. -
Paysage au flamboyant (landscape with flamboyant)
In a similar vein to Toffoli, Raymond Poulet criss-crossed the world and his travels provided the themes that inspired his work.Aubusson tapestry woven by the Jean Laurent workshop. N°6/6. Circa 1990. -
Marché aux chameaux (camel market)
In a similar vein to Toffoli, Raymond Poulet criss-crossed the world and his travels provided the themes that inspired his work ; the oriental inspiration has few precursors among the world of the peintre-cartonniers other than Bezombes.Aubusson tapestry produced by Jean Laurent. 1980. -
Poissons de la lune (Moon fish)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. Complete with certificate of origin. Circa 1960. 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. Beneath the red moon, fish, butterflies, a lobster all frolic in a dream-like composition typical of the artist : numerous examples of these motifs can be found for instance in “Avant l’homme” Before man, woven by the Gobelins (cf Exhibition Catalogue “le Mobilier National et les Manufactures Nationales des Gobelins et de Beauvais sous la IVe République”, Beauvais 1997) -
La souche (the stump)
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. Strangely enough, despite the naturalistic title, the cartoon leans towards abstraction in a kind of refinement of Fumeron’s figurative cartoons where we can still recognise the circular yellow-sun characteristic of the artist.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label. Circa 1960. -
Composition
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. An abstract cartoon, typical of the artist’s work, in a style which are redolent of Borderie or Wogensky, and which bear witness to the unceasing originality of his creativity.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. N°1/6. Circa 1960. -
Mirage
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. This is a particularly interesting cartoon by Fumeron, one of his best in an abstract vein which puts him on an equal footing with Matégot.Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label. Circa 1965. -
Soleil de corail (coral sun)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With signed label. Circa 1960.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 vertical fronds, through which mottled fish weave in and out, partially hide a flaming red sun : in this piece we recognise all the elements of Fumeron’s characteristically fantastical vision. -
L'Odyssée (the Odyssey)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With signed label, n°1/6. Circa 1965.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. During the 1960’s Fumeron evolved towards abstraction as did some of his contemporaries (Matégot, Wogensky,...). His compositions of this period are sometimes inspired by literary subjects (Cf. Hamlet) which are interpreted in a kaleidoscope of colours which are immediately recognisable. -
Reflets (reflections)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With label, n°6/6. Circa 1960.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. Beneath the red sun, fish, insects , a lobster all frolic in a dream-like composition typical of the artist : numerous examples of these motifs can be found for instance in “Avant l’homme” Before man, woven by the Gobelins (cf Exhibition Catalogue “le Mobilier National et les Manufactures Nationales des Gobelins et de Beauvais sous la IVe République”, Beauvais 1997) -
Reflets d'argent (silver reflections)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop. With signed label. Circa 1960.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 vertical fronds, through which fish weave in and out, partially hide a flaming red sun : in this piece we recognise all the elements of Fumeron’s characteristically fantastical vision.
