The sultan
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop.
With its signed bolduc.
Circa 1945.
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Lurçat's body of work is immense, but it is his role in the revival of the art of tapestry that has ensured his place in history. He began working with canvas in 1917, then collaborated with Marie Cuttoli in the 1920s and 1930s. His first collaboration with Les Gobelins dates back to 1937, when he discovered the Apocalypse tapestry in Angers, which inspired him to devote himself entirely to tapestry. He first tackled the technical issues with François Tabard, then, when he moved to Aubusson during the war, he defined his own system: large stitches, counted tones, numbered cartoons. A huge production then began (more than 1,000 cartoons), amplified by his desire to involve his painter friends, the creation of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie) and his collaboration with the La Demeure gallery and Denise Majorel, then by his role as a tireless promoter of the medium throughout the world. His woven work bears witness to a specifically decorative art of imagery, in a highly personal, cosmogonic symbolic iconography (sun, planets, zodiac, four elements, etc.), stylized plants, animals (goats, roosters, butterflies, chimeras, etc.), stand out against a background without perspective (deliberately distanced from painting), and intended, in his most ambitious cartoons, to share a vision that is both poetic (he sometimes embellishes these tapestries with quotations) and philosophical (the major themes are addressed from the war onwards: freedom, resistance, fraternity, truth, etc.) and culminating in the "Chant du Monde" (Jean Lurçat Museum, former Saint-Jean Hospital, Angers), which was unfinished at the time of his death. "Le Sultan" is a reversed version of "Fanfares," with minor modifications to the rooster's plumage. While a recurring motif in Lurçat's work, the rooster 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 tricolor allusions), a festive rooster displayed in a profusion of colorful beaches. Bibliography: Tapisseries de Jean Lurçat 1939-1957, Pierre Vorms Editeur, 1957 Exhibition catalog: Lurçat, 10 ans après, Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1976 Exhibition catalog: Les domaines de Jean Lurçat, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1986 Colloque Jean Lurçat et la renaissance de la tapisserie à Aubusson, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la Tapisserie, 1992 Exhibition catalog Dialogues avec Lurçat, Musées de Basse-Normandie, 1992 Exhibition catalog Jean Lurçat, Simone Lurçat Donation, Academy of Fine Arts, 2004 Gérard Denizeau, Jean Lurçat, Liénart, 2013 Exhibition catalog Jean Lurçat au seul bruit du soleil (Jean Lurçat to the Sound of the Sun Alone), Paris, Galerie des Gobelins, 2016
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Normans on the Seine
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshops. With its ribbon signed by the artist, no. 1. 1961.Lars Gynning is one of many artists of various nationalities who were involved in Aubusson in the 1950s-1970s, when tapestry was an essential artistic medium. Thematically, our cartoon allows us to explore the intertwining of Franco-Scandinavian relations through the centuries, seen through the prism of Viking incursions up the Seine: naturally, the Bayeux Tapestry comes to mind. But rather than a historical and diplomatic account of Gynning, the cartoon actually illustrates a song by Evart Taube, Sweden's national poet-bard of the 20th century (the lyrics of which appear at the bottom of the composition). apart from the subject matter in the strict sense, the woven translation of an epic chanson de geste refers to the great medieval tradition of tapestry, an unsurpassed model for many painters and cartoonists of the time. The aesthetic, resolutely modern and influenced by Cubism, revives the ancient subject. -
Rendez-vous des oiseaux
Tapisserie d’Aubusson tissée par l’atelier Berthaut. Avec son bolduc. 1951.Jean Picart le Doux est l’un des grands animateurs du renouveau de la tapisserie. Ses débuts dans le domaine datent de 1943 : il réalise alors des cartons pour le paquebot “la Marseillaise”. Proche de Lurçat, dont il épouse les théories (tons limités, cartons numérotés,…), il est membre fondateur de l’A.P.C.T.(Association des Peintres-cartonniers de Tapisserie), et bientôt professeur à l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. L’Etat lui commande de nombreux cartons tissés pour la plupart à Aubusson, pour certains aux Gobelins : les plus spectaculaires le seront pour l’Université de Caen, le Théâtre du Mans, le Paquebot France ou la Préfecture de la Creuse,…. Si les conceptions de Picart le Doux sont proches de celles de Lurçat, ses sources d’inspiration, ses thématiques, le sont aussi, mais dans un registre plus décoratif que symbolique, où se côtoient les astres (le soleil, la lune, les étoiles…), les éléments, la nature (le blé, la vigne, les poissons, les oiseaux…), l’homme, les textes,…. Les oiseaux sont un motif récurrent de l’artiste dans la première moitié des années 50, ainsi que les flammèches ponctuées de points du pourtour, signature de Picart le Doux. Par ailleurs, la gamme chromatique limitée n’est pas sans rappeler les verdures traditionnelles. Cette tapisserie est reproduite dans l’ouvrage de Bruzeau sous le N°30. Bibliographie : Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Murs de soleil, Editions Cercle d’art, 1972
