The lute and the candelabra
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Hamot workshop.
With its label signed by the artist, No. 2/8.
Circa 1955.
Jean Picart le Doux is one of the great animators of the revival of tapestry. His beginnings in the field date back to 1943: he then created cartoons for the liner 'La Marseillaise'. Close to Lurçat, whose theories he espouses (limited tones, numbered cartoons, ...), he is a founding member of the A.P.C.T. (Association of Tapestry Cartoonists and Painters), and soon became a professor at the National Higher School of Decorative Arts. The State commissions numerous cartoons, most of which are woven in Aubusson, and some at the Gobelins: the most spectacular ones will be for the University of Caen, the Mans Theatre, the France liner or the Prefecture of Creuse, .... If Picart le Doux's conceptions are close to those of Lurçat, his sources of inspiration and themes are also, but in a more decorative than symbolic register, where stars (the sun, the moon, the stars ...), elements, nature (wheat, vine, fish, birds ...), man, and texts coexist....
In our cartoon (strangely absent from Bruzeau's book), the emphasis is placed by the title on the candelabra, but we find an aspect of the formal repertoire specific to the artist, reflecting an ideal golden age, with the viola da gamba and butterflies. With these motifs and its red background, the tapestry is very close to the "Damier" of 1955 (Bruzeau No. 68).
Bibliography:
Marthe Belle-Joufray, Jean Picart le Doux, Filmed Art and History Publications, 1966
Maurice Bruzeau, Jean Picart le Doux, Walls of Sun, Cercle d'Art Editions, 1972
Exh. Cat. Jean Picart le Doux, tapestries, Saint-Denis Museum, 1976
Exh. Cat. Jean Picart le Doux, Post Office Museum, 1980
