Jean LURCAT (1892-1966) in AUBUSSON. "Le Pic. Wool tapestry signed lower left and monogrammed lower right in the weft by Tabard Frères & Soeurs. Signed, titled, justified tirage 1 on the bolduc and numbered 2436 on the back. Height 196 - Width 158 cm Jean Lurçat was born in the Vosges and began his career as a painter, but it was tapestry that brought him to the forefront, or perhaps more accurately, that restored tapestry to its former glory. In the 1930s, he set out to revitalize this neglected art form. In 1936, he had his first tapestry woven by the Manufacture des Gobelins, then moved to Aubusson in September 1939 with Marcel Gromaire and Pierre Dubreuil. There, his works were first woven by the Atelier Tabard, which also produced the tapestry shown here. Lurçat was not only an artist, he was also a true technician, developing a formidable new method for making tapestries: numbered cardboard, reduced palette, wide-stitch weaving. Each number on the cardboard corresponds to a color, facilitating the work of the weaver. Without too much difficulty, Lurçat rallied people to his cause, initiating a myriad of disciples including Jean Picart Le Doux, Marc Saint-Saëns and Dom Robert. Renewing the entire language of an art form, creating a school of artists around him, resisting during the war - none of this prevented the versatile cardboard painter from developing his lyrical style. Influenced by the Surrealists, Lurçat's universe is populated by luxuriant vegetation and a bestiary combining real and fantastical animals, like our porcupine amidst blue and green plants, playing with perspective against a black background. A decorative effect is guaranteed with this woollen panel created by the man who knew how to build a bridge between the tradition of the Middle Ages and the modernity of the 20th century.