Les enfants (children)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Four workshop.
With illegible label, n°EA.
Circa 1980.
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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.
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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 -
Composition
Tapestry woven by the artist. With signed label, and preparatory drawing. Circa 1980. -
Eveil du jour (Awakening of the day)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Pinton workshop. With label, n°1/1. Circa 1980. -
Le clown (the clown)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Hecquet workshop. With signed label, n°1/1. 1974. -
Lente approche (slow approach)
Aubusson tapestry woven in the Braquenié workshop. With label. Circa 1960.
