Pierre DUBREUIL

The story is well-known: following the commission for the "Four Parts of the World" tapestries to be woven at the Gobelins Manufactory, Dubreuil was one of three artists, along with Gromaire and Lurçat, sent by Guillaume Janneau, administrator of the National Manufactories, to Aubusson in late 1939 to revitalize local tapestry production (with a commission for a series of tapestries on the theme of Gardens). While he shared Lurçat's views on the influence medieval tapestry should have to revitalize the medium, his abundant and resolutely naturalistic cartoons (lacking the dreamlike quality of a Coutaud, for example) set him apart from his colleague, bringing him closer to the work of Maingonnat.

Our tapestry testifies to Dubreuil's collaboration with Antoine Behna's ART (Tapestry Restoration Workshop), whose technical advisor was Janneau, discredited for his role during the War. The allegorical style reflects Dubreuil's classicism, ranging from academic nudes to still lifes that mirror the history of painting. This workshop wove both high-warp and low-warp tapestries: the 1990 sales catalog included a tapestry woven using each technique.

Bibliography:
G. Janneau, A. Behna, Tapestries of Our Time, 1950, ill. no. 64;
Millon-Robert Auction Catalogue, October 3, 1990, no. 29-29, 64