DOM ROBERT (1907-1997) (GUY DE CHAUNAC-LANZAC, KNOWN AS) CARDBOARD MAKER & SUZANNE GOUBELY WORKSHOP, WEAVER IN AUBUSSON Avril Douce Espérance, the creation of the cardboard in [1977], proof numbered 3/6 Large tapestry of basse-lisse. Wools of color. Extreme freshness of colors. Made in 1978. Signed and dated D. ROBERT and bears the monogram of the weaver in the weft at the bottom left, complete with its original bolduc of Suzanne GOUBELY Aubusson sewn on the back bearing the handwritten mentions in pen of title Avril Douce Espérance, of cartonnier Dom ROBERT, of dimensions and of receipt 3/6. 170 x 285 cm Provenance : - M. and M. R., Paris. Work acquired from the Gallery La Demeure, directed by Denise Majorel, in the 1970s. - Work remained in the descent of the precedents. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Mrs. Sophie Guérin Gasc, responsible for the collections of the Dom Robert Museum and the 20th century tapestry of Sorèze (Tarn) and director of the Dom Robert Association in Verdalle for the precious information she gave us about this work. Public collections : Museum Dom Robert and of the tapestry of the XXth century, Sorèze (Tarn) - Another copy of this tapestry Avril Douce Espérance of Dom Robert is preserved in this institution. Bibliography : - Dom Robert, œuvre tissé - Catalogue of the exhibition organized at the Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie contemporaine, Angers (March 30 - June 24, 1990); and at the Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, Aubusson (July 4 - September 16, 1990), Éditions des Musées d'Angers, Angers, 1990. A similar work reproduced in the catalog, unpaginated. - Dom Robert, tapestries - Catalogue of the exhibition organized at the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Albi (13 October - 2 December 1990), Éditions du Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi, 1990. A similar work reproduced on pages 16 and 17. - Collective - La clef des champs : Dom Robert - Éditions de l'Abbaye d'En Calcat, Dourgne / Éditions Privat, Toulouse, 2003. A similar work reproduced on pages 92 and 93; a detail of this one reproduced on page 94. - Collective - Les saisons de Dom Robert, tapestries - Éditions de l'Abbaye d'En Calcat, Dourgne / Éditions Hazan, Paris, 2014. A similar work reproduced on page 74; a detail of this one and its cardboard, dated 1977, reproduced on page 76 DOM ROBERT (1907-1997) Celebrated as one of the great masters of 20th century tapestry, Dom Robert (1907-1997) - born Guy de Chaunac-Lanzac - was responsible for more than 150 tapestry cartoons, most of them marked with the motifs of fauna and flourishing flora that he loved so much. He entered the Abbey of En Calcat, in the Tarn, in 1930, and decided to dedicate his life to the Benedictine order. However, his destiny as a religious man soon met his vocation as a cardboard painter. Initiated to painting as a child, and a student of the École des Arts Décoratifs, Dom Robert had nevertheless turned away from drawing and had only returned to the language of painting on his arrival at the Benedictine monastery. Devoting himself to watercolor, he produced illuminations, whose decorations already bore witness to the "universe in the making" of the future cartoonist1. Also, his true epiphany took place upon his return from the war, in 1940, when he remained fascinated by the cry of peacocks heard from the yard of a farm. This moment of enlightenment marked a decisive turning point in his work, which would forever be inspired by nature itself. In 1941, Jean Lurçat (1892-1966), another master of contemporary tapestry, discovered a watercolor of peacocks and suggested to the monk that he translate it into the art of weaving - it then became L'Été (1941), his first tapestry, which was followed by the other seasons of the year. Through Lurçat, Dom Robert's works were woven in Aubusson by the Tabard workshop, then by Suzanne Goubely. They were then successfully distributed throughout the world, notably by the famous Parisian gallery La Demeure, founded in 1950 by Denise Majorel, whom she met through François Tabard. Little by little, all religious and human figuration disappeared from Dom Robert's cartoons, to make way for representations of nature, which he perceived as inhabited by God. True embodiment of the mystery and beauty of divine creation, plants and animals became the permanent object of his attention. The monk made numerous studies from nature in his notebooks, sketching the fruit of his long hours spent observing the landscapes that surrounded him. His contemplative approach brought together his vocations as a religious and as an artist - Dom Robert's contemplation thus fully embodied both aspects of the definition, namely the act of looking at things and, through it, his union with God. The testimony of his faith thus resided in his tapestries which, in addition to presenting the Revelation