L’oeil ébloui (the dazzled eye)
Tapestry woven by the Clochard workshop.
With signed label, n°1/6.
Circa 1980.
Trained as an engraver (winner of the Prix de Rome for intaglio engraving in 1942), Jean Louis Viard produced his first cartoons in the mid-1950s. Initially working in a figurative style (at that time he was collaborating with Picart Le Doux), he subsequently followed the natural path taken by many painters and sketch artists (such as Matégot, Tourlière and Prassinos) by moving towards abstraction. He produced dozens of cartoons right up until the 2000s, alongside his work as a painter and engraver, whilst showing a particular interest in materials and textures, much like the proponents of the ‘Nouvelle Tapisserie’ movement, of which Pierre Daquin – who wove his work – was one of the leading figures. His themes, sometimes metaphysical (‘Mémoires’, ‘Destins’, etc.) span a wide range, from the astronomical infinite (‘solar darkness’) to the minute cellular level (‘Plant Mutation’): a prolific and varied body of work, in short, regularly exhibited at La Demeure, in various art fairs or solo exhibitions, and most significantly at the Comparaison art fair, where he was in charge of the Tapestries section.
