The weaver’s trap (variant)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Picaud workshop. Circa 1947. Devoted to mural art from 1937 (he took part in the International Exhibition), Lagrange drew his first cartoons in 1945, and became one of the founding members of the A.P.C.T. First expressionist (like Matégot or Tourlière), his cartoons (from his collaboration with Pierre Baudouin) evolved toward a stylization which, in the 1970s, led to cartoons made of purified signs in pure tones. Moreover, beyond his role in the revival of tapestry (and the related public commissions), Lagrange served as Professor at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, but also as a regular collaborator of Jacques Tati, a designer of monumental sets; finally, he was a recognized painter-artist, close to Estève or Lapicque. « Le verveux », a large tapestry measuring 203 x 285 cm woven at Tabard (and whose cartoon is kept at the Cité de la Tapisserie d’Aubusson), is characteristic of Lagrange’s first vein: through its theme (the realistic anachronism of old trades carried out by small people), and through its treatment—expressionist. Our cartoon reprises this theme on a smaller scale, with a single figure, and a different chromatic range, with certain details persisting: the oil lamp, the garishly colored fish on the ground… Bibliography: Cat. Exp. Lagrange, Angers, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, 1987 Robert Guinot, Jacques Lagrange, les couleurs de la vie, Lucien Souny editeur, 2005 J.J. et B. Wattel, Jacques Lagrange et ses toiles : peintures, tapisseries, cinéma, Editions Louvre Victoire, 2020
