Three white birds
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Legoueix workshop.
With its label signed, no. EA/1.
1968.
Member of the A.P.C.T. (Association of Painters-Cartonists of Tapestry), Wogensky is one of the many artists who devoted themselves to tapestry following Lurçat, in the immediate post-war period. Initially influenced by him, Wogensky's work (159 cartoons according to the 1989 exhibition catalog) later evolved in the 1960s towards a lyrical abstraction not always fully assumed, from cosmic-astronomical themes to decomposed and moving bird forms, towards more refined and less dense cartoons. Although he always proclaimed himself a painter, the artist's reflection on tapestry is very accomplished: "Creating a mural cartoon... is thinking in terms of a space that no longer belongs to us, by its dimensions, its scale, it is also the requirement of a broad gesture that transforms and accentuates our presence".
The omnipresent theme of the bird in Wogensky’s work is, more often than not, treated in an abstract way which emphasises its kinetic qualities : lines, trajectories, force, energy,... are the words used by critics and commentators in their descriptions. However, with his « Trois oiseaux blancs » (motif revisited with « Plein vol » in 1982), the artist reverts to a more figurative treatment where wings, beaks and tails are discreetly discernible.
Bibliography :
Cat. Expo. Robert Wogensky, the woven work, Aubusson, Departmental Museum of Tapestry, 1989
Cat. Expo. Robert Wogensky, Angers, Jean Lurçat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, 1989-1990
