Hiver vous n’êtes qu’un vilain (Winter, you are nothing but a villain)
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Bascoulergue workshop for AMI.
Circa 1950.
A leading figure in the decorative arts in the broadest sense (ceramics, gardens, frescoes, book illustration, etc.), Paul Vera always demonstrated a particular interest in tapestry : as early as 1923 he composed a « toilette de Flore » using an already limited palette (29), 15 years before Lurçat. He also provided cartoons for the Gobelins and for Beauvais during the 1930’s and then participated, from 1943 to 1955 in the adventure of the ART workshop led by Antoine Behna who, with the help of Guillaume Janneau, wanted to take part in the renewal instigated by Lurçat at Aubusson : he was the main contributor, providing 15 cartoons.
Quite apart from the illustrated text, the work of Charles d’Orléans (1394–1465), there are numerous references to medieval (and/or classical) tapestry: words used as visual motifs, strips of bright colours, the absence of perspective, allegories of the seasons, putti, the ‘mille-fleurs’ background… In this context of natural harmonies, the bicycle appears as an incongruity, a nod to modernity
Bibliography :
G. Janneau, A. Behna, Tapisseries de notre temps, 1950, n°30
