Extra Large – Tapestries from Picasso and Le Corbusier to Louise Bourgeois

view at the exhibition with a work by Paul Charlemagne:” A la gloire du maréchal pétain ou la révolution national”, 1942-43 (design 1942); wool; Manufacture National Aubusson, collection Mobilier National Paris

Extra Large
Tapestries from Picasso and Le Corbusier to Louise Bourgeois

March 28.2020 to January 3.2021 at the Kunsthal Rotterdam

Within this exhibition, the tapestries that were produced in the French state  manufactories were presented for the first time in the Netherlands. Designed by 35 of the most prestigious artists of the past 100 years, the 56 exhibited tapestries span the period from World War I to the present day. Apart from the fact that many of these tapestries clearly represent their original purpose of luxury, prestige, cultural identity and display of power, they also, and especially, reveal just how surprisingly vibrant the traditional craft of weaving still is.

The exhibition uncovers a relatively unknown aspect in the world of many modern and contemporary artists. Without exception, these textile masterpieces were created in close collaboration with the weavers of the French state manufactories. The combination of artistic finesse and superb craftsmanship remains unsurpassed to this day. From preparing the design up to the finished result, creating a large-scale tapestry still takes thousands of working hours. At the same time, the manufactories continue to reinvent themselves within the possibilities offered by the combination of ancient weaving techniques and creative innovation.

In the light of the recent debate about gender, textile art is currently attracting a great deal of attention. As an act of subversion and an expression of individuality, young artists are increasingly choosing to work in this so-called “Typical feminine” and often devaluated medium.

This was the original introduction to the general public to this remarkable exhibition, that I reprint in total to give a feeling of how textiles in art are now everywhere reconsidered by exhibition curators. For me this exhibition, that I visited in July 2020 was an eye opener in so far as I never have seen such a long period of tapestry weaving- in extremely large format- in one exhibition! On top of that , most of the works were not or seldom shown to a larger public and that made it fresh and unexpected.

Living in Germany , I was especially surprised to see tapestries by the German painter Werner Peiner, woven in France for Nazis like Hermann Göring, next to a huge portrait after a cartoon by Paul Charlemagne of Marshall Pétain, who collaborated with the Nazis during WO II. The above mentioned display of power and prestige was all to present in these works. All authoritarian regimes seem to like huge tapestries, not only the Nazis but also in the German Democratic Republic , in Russia and more or less all the countries behind the former Iron Curtain.
Happily these kind of commissions has now stopped, and in the case of France, after WO II commissions were directed towards modern painters like Dufy, Picasso, Vasarely, Picasso, Leger, Sonia Delaunay and many more.

From the 60s t0 the late 8os when the Lausanne Biennales revolutionized two dimensinal tapesty art into sculptural textile art , and from on the early 70s also the French manufactories started experimental research workshops to carry out weaving tests using new materials or synthetic threads. An unconventional approach to material was encouraged, daring to question existing boundaries. For the first time, different manufactories pooled resources  to realize the tapestry triptych by the sculptor Alicia Penalba: the techniques employed by the Manufacture des Gobelins and the Manufacture de la Savonnerie were combined to produce a relief-like version of a wall hanging. They also experimented with differing thickness of wool thread, which would be used again two decades later for Louise Bourgeois work “Saint Sébastienne”.

Despite being open to new approaches, the state manufactories still consider it their duty to preserve the traditional techniques of the weavers´ craft. As a matter of principle, the state manufactories invariably upheld tapestry´s basic function as a two-dimensional wall decoration.

Louis Anquetin: “La Mobilisation” 1935 ( design 1921), Manufacture de Beauvais, wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Louis Anquetin: “La Mobilisation” 1935 ( design 1921), detail, Manufacture de Beauvais, wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Pierre-Henri Duos de la Haille:” Le Mékong”, 1935-1937 (design 1935), Manufacture des Gobelins; wool , silk; collection Mobilier National Paris
Pierre-Henri Duos de la Haille:” Le Mékong”, 1935-1937 (design 1935), detail, Manufacture des Gobelins; wool , silk; collection Mobilier National Paris
Jean Lurçat: “Les saisons, L´hiver”, 1966 (dessin 1940), 3rd copy, Atelier Goubely Aubusson; wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Jean Lurçat: “Les saisons, l’automne,1944-1946 ( design 1940) Atelier Goubely Aubusson; wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Jean Lurçat: “Les saisons, l’automne,1944-1946 ( design 1940), detail, Atelier Goubely Aubusson; wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Jean Lurçat: “Les saisons, l’été”1940-41 (design 1939), Atelier Goubely Aubusson; wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Jean Lurçat: “Les saisons, l’été”1940-41 (design 1939), detail; Atelier Goubely Aubusson; wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
Paul Charlemagne:” A la gloire du maréchal pétain ou la révolution national”, 1942-43 (design 1942); Manufacture National Aubusson, collection Mobilier National Paris wool;
Paul Charlemagne:” A la gloire du maréchal pétain ou la révolution national”, 1942-43 (design 1942), detail; Manufacture National Aubusson, collection Mobilier National Paris wool;
Werner Peine: “The Terrestrial Globe” 1941-42 (design 1940), left halve of the tapestry that was 75 square meter in total, Manufacture des Gobelins, wool, silk, gold- and silver threads: collection Musée du Louvre Paris. This tapestry was commissioned by Hermann Göring for his Carinhall residence near Berlin
Werner Peine: “The Chariot of the ones or the Fertility”1941-44 (design 1940); Manufacture des Gobelins, wool, silk, gold- and silver threads; collection Musée du Louvre Paris
Jean Lurçat: “Liberté”, 1952 (design 1943); Atelier Picaud, wool; collection Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, Angers
Jean Lurçat: “Liberté”, 1952 (design 1943), detail; Atelier Picaud, wool; collection Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine, Angers
Raoul Dufy:”Shells on the Shore” 1966 (design 1925); Manufacture de Beauvais, wool, silk;collection Mobilier National Paris
Raoul Dufy:”Shells on the Shore” 1966 (design 1925), detail; Manufacture de Beauvais, wool, silk;collection Mobilier National Paris
André Masson:” In Pursuit of Hatchings and Germinations” 1969-70 (design 1967), wool and silk; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
André Masson:” In Pursuit of Hatchings and Germinations” 1969-70 (design 1967),detail, wool and silk; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Joan Miró: “Composition No. 1. Woman in Front of a Mirror”, 1966 (design 1965)wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Alexander Calder: “Composition”,1966 (design 1964);wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Le Corbusier: “And Outside Boredom Reigns” 1987 (design 1950-51) 2nd copy; Atelier Picard Aubusson, wool; collection Mobilier National Paris
View at the exhibition with “women at their Toilette” by Pablo Picasso, 1971 -77 (design 1937) 2nd copy, wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Fernand Léger: “The Creation of the World”1962 (Design 19239), wool, Atelier Tabard Aubusson; collection Mobilier National Paris
Le Corbusier : wallhanging , wool, collection Mobilier National Paris
Victor Vasarely: “Cheyt Pyr” 1977 (design 1975), wool, Manufacture de Beauvais; collection Mobilier National Paris
Sonia Delaunay:”Panel 1954″ 1999-2000 (design 1974), wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Zao Wov-Ki: Untitled,1973-76 (design 1973), wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Zao Wov-Ki: Untitled,1973-76 (design 1973), detail, wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Triptych by the sculptor Alicia Penalba : the techniques employed by the Manufacture des Gobelins and the Manufacture de la Savonnerie were combined to produce a relief-like version of a wall hanging; collection Mobilier National Paris
Louise de Bourgeois: “Sainte Sébastienne” 1995-97 (design 1992), wool, cotton, linen and silk; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Alain Séchas: “A map of Japan”, 2012-2017 (design 2012) ,wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Alain Séchas: “A map of Japan”, 2012-2017 (design 2012), detail ,wool ; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
Jana Sterbak: “On the way to Marseille”,2004-2015 (design 2012), wool, linen and silk; Manufacture des Gobelins; collection Mobilier National Paris
View at the exhibition with a giant face by Orlan: “Disfiguration- Refiguration, Proto Colombian, Self hybridation no. 4″2013-2016 (design 1998), Manufacture de Beauvais, wools; collection Mobilier National Paris
Orlan: “Disfiguration- Refiguration, Proto Colombian, Self hybridation no. 4″2013-2016 (design 1998), backside, Manufacture de Beauvais, wools; collection Mobilier National Paris