Le Corbusier, l’oeuvre tissé (lbook)

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Le Corbusier, l’oeuvre tissé (book) by Martine Mathias. Preface by Francois Mathey. Introduction by Annick Davy (all 3, curators of their respective Museums). 44 illustrations in color and 65 in black and white. Hardcover book of 103 pages in French. Very good condition inside except for the faded illustrated dust jacket.

A catalogue raisonné of the tapestries of the great architect. Numerous documents. Published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Musée des beaux-arts d’Arras for the centenary of the artist’s birth.

Le Corbusier discovered tapestry in 1936 when the collector Marie Cuttoli ordered a cartoon to relaunch the production of artists’ tapestries in Aubusson.

But it was not until 1948 that he conceptualized the artistic and architectural function of tapestry by developing the theory of the “Muralnomad” considered as a mobile component of the modern home, able to “detach from the wall, roll up, take under the arm at will, go and hang elsewhere”.

This turning point came about thanks to the meeting with Pierre Baudouin, an artist and teacher in Aubusson who would make the link between Le Corbusier and the weavers to find the perfect transposition of the cardboard into tapestry.

Inspired by subjects addressed in his drawings: manufactured objects of purism, female figures, objects with a poetic reaction dear to Léger, more spiritual themes such as “UBU” or “TOTEM”, Le Corbusier would have around thirty tapestries woven between 1936 and 1965.

He would also receive the order for large-scale tapestries for public buildings including the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Feel free to check out the additional photos at the top left, thank you!

If you prefer to pay in EUR, you must click on the orange “French” option under the main photo above, which will redirect you to the text in French and the payment in €.