Marc Saint-Saëns

Lurçat approached Saint-Saëns, initially a fresco painter, from 1940 onwards. And, during the war, he produced his first allegorical masterpieces, tapestries of indignation, combat, and resistance: "the Foolish Virgins", "Theseus and the Minotaur". After the war, naturally, he joined Lurçat, with whom he shared convictions (on numbered cartoons and counted tones, on the specific writing required for tapestry, ...) within the A.P.C.T. (Association of Cartoonists-Tapestry Makers). His universe, where the human figure, stretched and elongated, holds a considerable place (compared in particular to the place it occupies among his colleagues Lurçat, or Picart le Doux), revolves around traditional themes: woman, Commedia dell'arte, Greek myths, ... sublimated by the brilliance of the colours and the simplification of the layout. He then evolved, in the 1960s, towards more lyrical, almost abstract cartoons, where cosmic elements and forces dominate.

« Fire » is the 4^th piece in a set of « Four elements », commissioned by Jansen, woven by Dumontet, and exhibited in 1946 at the Museum of Modern Art. The use of myths and allegory is common among artists at that time : « Orion », « Diana », « Theseus and the Minotaur » are contemporary works. Here, the muscular figure of a blacksmith-Vulcan, the colour of embers, radiating in front of a background of flames, leaves an unforgettable impression.

Bibliography:
Exhibition Cat. French Tapestry from the Middle Ages to the present day, Paris, Museum of Modern Art, 1946
Exhibition Cat. Saint-Saëns, Paris, La Demeure gallery, 1970, ill.
Exhibition Cat. Saint-Saëns, woven work, Aubusson, Departmental Museum of Tapestry, 1987
Exhibition Cat. Marc Saint-Saëns, tapestries, 1935-1979, Angers, Jean Lurçat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, 1997-1998