Hommage à Yukio Mishima (A tribute to Yukio Mishima)
Tapestry woven in the Saint-Cyr workshop.
With signed label, n°EA1.
1972.
Jacques Brachet was an important protagonist of the « New Tapestry » movement ; woven by Pierre Daquin, exhibited by the « La Demeure » gallery in the 1970’s, his innovative and experimental approach to the medium, from the 1950’s onwards, was recognised by the Centre International d’études pédagogiques in Sèvres, by the scenography of “La Tapisserie en France, 1945 – 1985, la tradition vivante” at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and by his inclusion in various promotional events right up to the present day.
Brachet travelled to Japan in 1972. The specific techniques of his tapestry designs (as opposed to painting) : innovative use of shape and texture, themes taken from the natural world... would take off in new directions as a result. Paradoxically this particulat hommage to one of the most flamboyant and tragic figures of post-war Japan is, as a textile object, rather tame respecting the 2 dimensional norm, a classic wool weave... The brightly coloured motifs (dominated by a red disk-shaped sun) are in contrast with the white background, like a shard of light on the blade of the seppuku.
Bibliography :
Madeleine Jarry, la tapisserie art du XXe siècle, Office du livre, 1974, ill. n°157
Exhibition catalogue Jacques Brachet, mémoires océanes, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1996
