The two squirrels
Tapestry woven by the de Wit workshop.
With its signed selvedge.
Circa 1960.
Edmond Dubrunfaut can be considered the great reviver of Belgian tapestry in the 20th century. He founded a weaving workshop in Tournai in 1942, then created the Tournai Tapestry Restoration Center He supplied numerous cartoons to various Belgian workshops (Chaudoir, de Wit, etc.), notably for decorating Belgian embassies around the world. Furthermore, from 1947 to 1978, Dubrunfaut taught monumental art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Mons , and then, in 1979, participated in the creation of the Tournai Tapestry, Textile Arts, and Mural Arts Foundation , a true repository of tapestry in Wallonia. His figurative style, often using strong color contrasts, is very much inspired by animals and nature (like Perrot for example, the artist has a strong affinity for ornithology).
The squirrel is one of the recurring themes for the artist (see "Evening Fires", "Squirrels and Birds"...): here he makes the tails a decorative motif in themselves.
