Lucien COUTAUD

Painter and engraver, Lucien Coutaud also worked for the theatre with Dullin and Barrault: he then created numerous sets and costumes. But it was his meeting with Marie Cuttoli in 1933 that led him to tapestry: she commissioned, above all, chair seat Cartoons. Most of the following tapestries were Woven at Pinton for the Compagnie des Arts Français, which aimed to integrate Tapestry into the interior décor. The last 3 tapestries by the artist in 1960 testified to his renown, since « Jardins exotiques » adorn the lounge of Première Classe on the « France ». The qualities of a scenographer influenced by Surrealism are reflected in Coutaud’s Woven work: his world is figurative, but stylized (forms are sharp, chopped), resolutely dreamlike, with unusual borders very often. The Cartoon « instruments de musique lunaire » (Coutaud drew his own gouache Cartoons, without using Numbered Cartoons) dates from 1950: it is one of the few of the artist’s tapestries (along with precisely « harpe marine » and « violon printanier », other testimonies of the artist’s taste for these musical still lifes) in which the human figure is rare. The center of the composition (the scene) is occupied by the instruments, while 2 heads (blowers, musicians in the pit) decorate the lower corners; all of it unfolds in an austere, nocturnal landscape (lunar, precisely), an illustration of the dream worlds cherished by the artist. The Göteborg City Theatre preserves an example of this tapestry. Bibliographie : J. Cassou, M. Damain, R. Moutard-Uldry, la tapisserie française et les peintres cartonniers, Tel, 1957, ill. p.86 Cat. Exp. Lucien Coutaud, œuvre tissé, Aubusson, Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, 1988-1989, illustrée p.42-43 Cat. Expo. Le théâtre en tapisserie, Cavaillès, Lurçat, Matisse, Sorèze, Abbaye-école Musée Dom Robert, 2017, ill. n°8