Butterfly bouquet
Tapestry woven in Aubusson by the Legoueix workshop.
With its selvedge signed by the artist, no. 4/6.
Circa 1980.
From illustration to tapestry, there is only one (big) step to take, let us remember that Dom Robert was an illuminator! It was precisely this man, as well as Madeleine David, one of the co-directors of the La Demeure gallery, with whom she was close, who encouraged Jacqueline Duhême to take an interest in the medium: preceded by her reputation as an "image-maker" (see bibliography), illustrating Prévert, Eluard or Druon, she devoted herself to tapestry from 1967 (she then took courses with Tourlière at the ENAD in Aubusson, and became an adept of the numbered cartoon) to 1981, La Demeure even dedicating a monographic exhibition to her in 1976.
Her world, which comes from medieval millefleurs, is not unlike Dom Robert, but a Dom Robert on amphetamines, where Nature is abundant, exotic, exuberant (see "Safari", "Bird of Paradise").
On a smaller scale, and more refined too, our cardboard box testifies to the colorful vitality of Duhême's inspiration.
Bibliography:
Exhibition catalog, Jacqueline Duhême the illustrator, Forney Library, 2019
