Of gold and shadow
Tapestry woven by the Cartron workshop.
With its bolduc signed by the artist, n°1/1.
Circa 1970.
Initially a sculptor, working with a wide variety of materials (steel, concrete, ceramics, etc.), Borderie discovered a passion for tapestry in the 1950s, commissioning his first cartoon in 1957. Encouraged by Denise Majorel, he received the Grand Prix National de la Tapisserie (National Tapestry Grand Prize) in 1962. In 1974, he was appointed director of the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs (National School of Decorative Arts) in Aubusson, a position he resigned from very quickly. He created nearly 500 painted, abstract cartoons with simple forms, rendered in a limited color palette, using large-point weaving techniques.
Here we find the same preoccupations with light (and shadow) as in "The Weapons of Light" (and in Matégot's work). Borderie was also woven by workshops other than Legoueix in Aubusson, Rado, Daquin and, more discreetly, Chartron in Angers (which notably wove for Jorj Morin).
Bibliography:
Exhibition catalog: André Borderie “for man simply”, Angers, Jean Lurçat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, 1998;
Exhibition catalog: André Borderie and Aubusson tapestry, Aubusson, Saint-Jean Manufactory, 2018
