Elie MAINGONNAT

The tiercelet

Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop.
Label signed by the artist's rights holder, No. E.A.1
1942.

Elie Maingonnat directed the National School of Decorative Arts in Aubusson from 1930 to 1958, where he succeeded Marius Martin (who had already advocated for limiting colors and using hatching), and was his student. In addition to his responsibilities, Maingonnat himself devoted himself to creating cartoons: dense plant motifs animated by a few animals, a testament to the Limousin flora and fauna, reviving the traditional theme of 17th-18th century verdure.

Our cartoon is typical of Maingonnat's work: the local fauna and flora (here, a small tiercel among the gentians, on the edge of a torrent) are illustrated in a reduced range of grey-green colours that respond to each other, and are underlined by the browns of the river rocks.