Living Waters
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop.
With its labellabel signed by the artist, no. 1/6.
Circa 1970.
Initially a sculptor, using a variety of materials (steel, concrete, ceramics, ...), Borderie discovered his passion for tapestry in the 1950s, having his first cartoon woven in 1957. Encouraged by Denise Majorel, he received the National Grand Prize for Tapestry in 1962. In 1974, he was appointed director of the National School of Decorative Arts in Aubusson, from which he resigned very quickly. He created nearly 500 painted, abstract cartoons, with simple shapes, degraded in a reduced color range, with large-stitch weaves.
Despite its warm colors and lyrical forms (notably this vertical accolade, like aquatic swirls), 'Living Waters' remains unique in Borderie's work: the usual chromatic homogeneity is altered by this striking central red oval.
Bibliography:
Cat. Expo. André Borderie 'for the man simply', Angers, Jean Lurçat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, 1998
J.J. and B. Wattel, André Borderie and the Aubusson tapestry, Louvre Victoire Editions, 2018
