Star Serpent
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Tabard workshop.
With its selvedge signed by the artist.
1961.
A member of the APCT (Association of Tapestry Cartoon Painters), Wogensky is one of the many artists who devoted themselves to tapestry following in Lurçat's footsteps in the immediate post-war period. Initially influenced by Lurçat, Wogensky's work (159 cartoons according to the 1989 exhibition catalog) evolved in the 1960s towards a lyrical abstraction, not always fully embraced, moving from cosmic-astronomical themes to decomposed and dynamic bird forms, towards more refined and less dense cartoons. While he always proclaimed himself a painter, the artist's reflection on tapestry is highly developed: “Creating a wall cartoon… means thinking in terms of a space that no longer belongs to us, by its dimensions, its scale; it also requires a broad gesture that transforms and accentuates our presence.”.
“Serpent d’étoiles” refers to the eponymous constellation (but also to the work of Giono), to a time (all of the 60s) when his taste for a lyrical absolute led Wogensky to deal with the stars, Space, galaxies, from “Cassiopée” in 1961, “Chant des étoiles” of 1962 (presented at the Lausanne Biennale), to “Galaxie” (1970), kept at the Senate.
A similar tapestry is kept by the Regional Council of Limousin.
Bibliography:
Exhibition catalog, Robert Wogensky, tapestries, Galerie la Demeure, 1962, reproduced
; Exhibition catalog, Robert Wogensky, The Woven Work, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie, 1989
; Exhibition catalog, Robert Wogensky, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, 1989-1990, reproduced p. 20
; Exhibition catalog, Dialogues with Lurçat, Musées de Basse-Normandie, 1992, reproduced p. 73;
Gérard Denizeau, Denise Majorel, A Life for Tapestry, Aubusson, Musée départemental de la tapisserie, reproduced p. 67
