Hommage à l’Abbé Breuil (a tribute to abbot Breuil)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop.
With label.
Circa 1955.
Perrot began his career as a cartoon designer at the end of the war, making almost 500 cartoons including numerous commissions from the state, most of which were woven at Aubusson. His style which is particularly rich and decorative is eminently recognisable : a crowd of butterflies or birds, most often, stands out against a background of vegetation, reminiscent of the millefleurs tapestries (which would also inspire Dom Robert).
A striking piece inspired by the paintings in the Lascaux cave, where the tapestry has never been more deserving of its name as ‘wall art’; Perrot’s contribution here is, in the end, rather modest: the saturation of colours (particularly in the background, somewhere between mauve and pink), the densification of the motifs (which are more scattered in the cave), the smudged patches,… Whilst Perrot produced numerous cartoons – tributes (to Pergaud, Redouté, Audubon, …), this one is particularly significant for the proven closeness between the artist and the dedicatee, ‘the Pope of Prehistory’: the tribute here is not merely a matter of the artificiality of a public commission.
Bibliography :
Tapisserie, dessins, peintures, gravures de René Perrot, Dessein et Tolra, 1982.
Exh. Cat. René Perrot, mon pauvre cœur est un hibou, Aubusson, Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie, 2023
