Jean Lurçat facts for kids
Jean Lurçat (born July 1, 1892 – died January 6, 1966) was a French artist famous for helping to bring back modern tapestry art.
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Jean Lurçat's Early Life and Studies
Jean Lurçat was born in Bruyères, a town in Vosges, France. His brother, André Lurçat, became a well-known architect. After finishing school in Épinal, Jean first studied medicine at the University of Nancy. He also traveled to Switzerland and Germany (Munich). Later, he left his medical studies to learn art at the workshop of Victor Prouvé, who led the École de Nancy art school.
Painting and Wartime Experiences
In 1912, Jean Lurçat moved to Paris with his brother André. He joined the Académie Colarossi art school and then worked with an engraver named Bernard Naudin. He met famous painters like Matisse, Cézanne, and Renoir. His friends included the poet Rainer Maria Rilke and the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle.
Lurçat and three friends started an art magazine called Feuilles de Mai (The Leaves of May). He also learned from painter Jean-Paul Lafitte and had an exhibition with him in Marseille. His first trip to Italy was cut short in August 1914 when World War I began.
Back in France, Lurçat joined the army. He got sick in November 1914 and had to leave the front lines. While recovering in 1915, he continued to paint and make lithography prints. In July 1916, he returned to the war but was injured again and never went back to the front. In September, his art was shown in Zürich, Switzerland.
Discovering Tapestry Art
In 1917, Jean Lurçat created his first tapestries, which are woven artworks. They were called Filles Vertes (Green Girls) and Soirée dans Grenade (Evening in Grenada). After the war ended in 1918, he went back to Switzerland for a holiday in Ticino (Swiss Italy). There, he spent time with artists and writers like Rilke and Hermann Hesse. He had another art exhibition in Zürich that same year.
In 1920, Lurçat traveled a lot, visiting Berlin, Munich, Rome, and Naples. He then settled in Paris with Marthe Hennebert. She helped weave two of his tapestries: Pêcheur (Fisherman) and Piscine (Swimming Pool). That year, he showed two tapestries and four paintings at an art show called Le Salon des Indépendants. He also met an art dealer named Étienne Bignou.
In 1921, Jean Lurçat met artist Louis Marcoussis and learned about the works of Picasso and Max Jacob. He designed sets and costumes for a play called "He who receives slaps." The next year, he made his fifth tapestry, Le Cirque (The Circus), for Mme. Cuttoli. His first solo art shows happened in Paris in April and September. He also made a large wall decoration at the Castle of Villeflix, which is no longer there. Then he went to Berlin and met musician Ferruccio Busoni.
Lurçat continued to travel in the next two years. In 1923, he visited Spain. In 1924, he explored North Africa, the Sahara desert, Greece, and Asia Minor. When he returned, he signed a deal with his friend Étienne Bignou. His brother André built him a new house in Paris called Villa Seurat. Lurçat spent part of 1924 creating his sixth tapestry, Les arbres (The Trees). On December 15, he married Marthe Hennebert. In 1925, they traveled to Scotland, Spain, and North Africa. After their trip, they lived at La Villa Seurat. He showed his work in several exhibitions with other artists like Raoul Dufy. He also displayed decorations and carpets for a film called Le Vertige. In 1926, he had exhibitions in Paris and Brussels and took part in group shows in Vienna and Anvers. His reputation grew as many articles were written about his art.
Years of Fame
In 1927, Jean Lurçat and Marthe traveled to the Middle East, spending the summer in Greece and Turkey. He designed four tapestries for the family of David David-Weill, including L'Orage (The Storm), which is now in the Musée National d'Art Moderne (National Museum of Modern Art). In 1928, he returned to Greece and Italy (Rome) before going to the United States in October for his first exhibition in New York.
In 1929, he spent time in Marco. In 1930, he had exhibitions in Paris, London, New York, and Chicago. He also created nine illustrations for a book called Les Limbes by Charles-Albert Cingria and visited America again. That same year, he and Marthe Hennebert divorced. In 1931, he married Rosane Timotheef, and they moved to Vevey, Switzerland. He wrote several articles about painting and made fewer paintings during this time.
In December 1932, Lurçat participated in an exhibition called Sélections in New York. His work was shown alongside famous artists like Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Derain, and Raoul Dufy. From then on, he often combined his political views with his art. In 1933, he lived in New York. He designed the sets and costumes for a ballet called Jardin Public (Public Garden). Also in 1933, he created his first tapestry using a new and revolutionary technique he developed at Aubusson.
Jean Lurçat and the Revival of French Tapestry
To understand Jean Lurçat's art, it helps to know about the history of tapestry. Tapestry is a special kind of woven art. For a long time, especially during the Renaissance (a period of great art and learning), tapestry art changed. Instead of using traditional weaving methods, artists tried to make tapestries look exactly like paintings. This made tapestry lose some of its unique qualities.
Jean Lurçat is largely credited with bringing tapestry art back to life in the 20th century. He believed that tapestry designs should respect the old ways of making tapestries from the Middle Ages. He inspired other artists, like Picasso, to learn how to design for tapestry.
In the 15th century, tapestry weaving was already very skilled. But during the Renaissance in the 16th century, people wanted tapestries to look like paintings. This meant that old weaving techniques, like hachure (using lines to create shading) and hatching (similar lines for shading), were forgotten. Tapestry started to have an "identity crisis." New techniques focused on building shapes, which made tapestries look different from traditional ones. This created a new art form that was less like true tapestry.
From the 17th century (when the Gobelins factory was founded in France) until the late 19th century, tapestries were mostly made to look like paintings. A big change happened when Pope Leo X in the early 16th century asked for tapestries of The Acts of the Apostles, designed by the painter Raphael, to be woven in Brussels. From then on, tapestries were often made from designs given by painters.
Jean Lurçat started as both a painter and a tapestry weaver in 1915. He became very interested in tapestry history. He was especially inspired by the Apocalypse of Angiers, a 14th-century tapestry he saw in 1937. This experience made him even more sure that tapestries should focus on strong feelings and use a limited number of colors. He was already practicing these ideas and was happy to see them confirmed by such an important old artwork. This made his beliefs about how tapestries should be designed even stronger.
Lurçat believed that tapestries and paintings were different. He said tapestries were made for specific, large walls. He thought that the best tapestries:
- Had a clear message or story.
- Were always large (like 15 meters by 15 meters).
- Were designed to be connected to the building's architecture.
He once said, "I want to remind you that Tapestry knew its proudest moments in a time when a style of extremely grandiose architecture reigned supreme."
Lurçat had many strong ideas about tapestry. He believed in focusing on the message while using simple methods. He also thought it was important for tapestry to continue to be a partner to architecture. A main idea in his book, Designing Tapestry, was that designers should give very clear instructions to the weavers. This way, the weaver, who might not be the designer, would know exactly what to do and the final tapestry would look just as the designer imagined. Lurçat also strongly felt that making a tapestry from a painting that wasn't originally meant to be a tapestry was disrespectful to the art form.
Art Exhibitions in the Soviet Union
In 1934, Lurçat returned to New York. He helped create new sets and costumes for a ballet by George Balanchine, which was shown in Chicago and Philadelphia. Then he went back to Paris and Vevey for the summer. After summer, he traveled to Moscow, where he had an exhibition at the Musée Occidental (Western Museum), and then at the museum in Kiev.
In 1935, he painted Dynamiteros in Spain, inspired by the revolution and the Spanish War. In Paris, he joined activities of a group for revolutionary artists. He also took part in "Journeys of Friendship for the Soviet Union" with writers like Malraux and Aragon. In 1936, he exhibited his work in London. He also released his first tapestry made at La Manufacture des Gobelins (The Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory in Paris), called Les Illusions d'Icare (The Illusions of Icarus). In 1937, he met François Tabard.
Inspired by the Apocalypse Tapestry
In 1936, Jean Lurçat was deeply inspired by seeing the 14th-century tapestry L'Apocalypse (The Apocalypse). In 1938, his tapestry Moisson was woven. In 1939, he had exhibitions in New York and Paris. In September, he moved to Aubusson with other artists like Gromaire and Dubreuil. Their goal was to bring new life to tapestry art, which was not very popular at the time.
Lurçat's new technique used a simpler range of colors and strong, bold weaving. During this period, he stopped using oil paints and started using poster paints instead. The Musée National d'Art Moderne (National Museum of Modern Art) bought his tapestries Jardin des Coqs (Garden of Roosters) and L'Homme aux Coqs (The Man of the Roosters). Sadly, the original designs for these were destroyed by the SS (a group of soldiers during World War II) in 1944 in Lanzac. In 1940, he worked with artists André Derain and Raoul Dufy.
During the Resistance
In June 1944, Jean Lurçat joined people who were fighting against the occupation of France during World War II. He worked with writers and artists like Tristan Tzara and Jean Cassou. He became part of the Comité de Libération (Committee of Liberation), a group working to free France. He also met Simone Selves, who later became his wife.
Jean Lurçat's Legacy
Jean Lurçat passed away on January 6, 1966, in Saint-Paul de Vence. In the 1980s, his wife Simone created the Musée Jean Lurçat de Saint-Laurent les Tours and the Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie contemporaine. She gave many of his artworks to these museums so that future generations could enjoy and learn from them.
See also
In Spanish: Jean Lurçat para niños
