LE CORBUSIER OEUVRE TISSÉ
Martine Mathias
Martine Mathias: LE CORBUSIER OEUVRE TISSÉ. Paris: Philippe Sers, 1987. First edition. Text in French. Quarto. Red cloth decorated in blue [after Marcel Duchamp Coeurs volants 1936]. Photo illustrated dust jacket. 103 pp. 44 color plates. 65 black and white illustrations. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
8.85 x 11.25 hardcover book with 103 pages and 44 color plates and 65 black and white illustrations. Préface de François Mathey, introduction d'Annick Davy, texte et catalogue raisonné par Martine Mathias. An unsurpassed monograph focusing on Le Corbusier's tapestries — aka woven work.
“Le Corbusier’s contribution to the art of tapestry in the twentieth century was crucial, both historically and artistically. He made only thirty models in Aubusson (executed by Tabard, Picaud, Pinton) so these are rare works. Le Corbusier’s technical collaboration with Pierre Baudoin, an expert weaver at Aubusson who helped him to translate his paintings and drawings into tapestries at the Pinton workshops, his active and long lasting friendships with Pinton Father and Brothers was exemplary. Le Corbusier’s involvement in the town of Felletin , the location of the Pinton Workshops, was such that he designed a liturgical ensemble, including a granite altar and a wooden cross, for one of the small town’s churches., l’Eglise Notre-Dame du Chateau. At a time when Aubusson tapestry is recognized as intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO, one can recall that the vast tapestry that adorns the boardroom of this institution is a signed Le Corbusier.” — Michele Giffault
From the September 28, 2001 New York Times: Le Corbusier Saw Tapestry As Part of Art: “The destiny of the tapestry of today emerges: it becomes the mural of the modern age,'' Le Corbusier wrote in his essay ''Tapestries: Nomadic Murals.'' The Swiss-born Modernist architect, theoretician, painter, sculptor and writer (1887-1965) is not particularly known for his tapestries, but he did many drawings for them and clearly felt tapestries were works of art.
“Corbusier made at least 27 tapestry drawings, known as cartoons, from 1936 to 1965, La Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris says. Beginning in 1949, Corbusier began collaborating with a colleague, Pierre Baudouin, to translate his paintings and drawings into tapestries at the Pinton workshops in Felletin, France (next door to the city of Aubusson, another longtime weaving center). In 1961 Corbusier also collaborated with the weavers of Firminy, near Lyon, to have 765 square yards of tapestry made for the Palace of Justice in Chandigarh, India.
“Modern tapestries became popular between the world wars. ''In the 1920's there was great cooperation between weavers and imaginative artists,'' said Charles Fuller, the owner of L'Art de Vivre at 978 Lexington Avenue, at 71st Street, which sells modern tapestries. ''Weaving artists were in great demand. You see tapestries used for upholstery, as wall hangings and as special commissions for ocean liners.''
“In Aubusson, ''I was asked to bring a new spirit, expressing the spirit of the age,'' Corbusier wrote in his essay. He continued, ''Tapestries, drawings, paintings, sculptures, books, houses and city plans are, in my personal case, one and the same manifestation of stimulating harmony at the breast of a new mechanical society.'' — Wendy Moonan
Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, Le Corbusier (1887 – 1965) adopted his famous pseudonym after publishing his ideas in the review L’Esprit Nouveau in 1920. The few buildings he was able to design during the 1920s, when he also spent much of his time painting and writing, brought him to the forefront of modern architecture, though it wasn’t until after World War II that his epoch-making buildings were constructed, such as the Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles and the Church of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp.