Maurice André

Maurice André settled in Aubusson for the duration of the second world war. A founding member of the group “Tapisserie de France” and a member of the A.P.C.T. (Association des Peintres-Cartonniers de Tapisserie), he developed a personal style, different from that of Lurçat, characterised by rigorous, cubist-influenced flat areas of colour, often using a limited palette ; he received large-scale public commissions for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (“L’Europe unie dans le Travail et la Paix”) or for the French pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition in 1958 (“La Technique moderne au service de l’Homme”). Gradually (as with Wogensky and Prassinos,...) his style evolved towards more abstraction, firstly lyrical and then more and more geometric, in a way very similar to Matégot.

Maurice André's first cartoon, 'Aubusson', testifies both to his adherence to Lurçat's technical principles (counted tones, flat areas...) and to what distinguishes him in aesthetic terms. (same as Gromaire, who dealt with the same subject a few years earlier). It is in fact Dubreuil, whose son-in-law he is, that he is close to; his stylistic emancipation will come soon after. The historical importance of this cartoon is undeniable: it is one of the few to illustrate the city (even more synthesized than Gromaire's) at a time when the Renaissance of Tapestry is still embryonic.