Lot n° 170
Estimation :
100000 - 150000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 121 600EUR
Joan MIRO (1893-1983)
Snail, woman, flower and star, 1934-1936
Hand-woven tapestry
Under the direction of Marie Cuttoli
Atelier Delarbre by Marcelle Delarbre
200 x 172 cm
Provenance: Louis Carré Collection, Ader-Picard-Tajan sale at the Palais d'Orsay, 27 April 1978, no. 26, reproduced. In the same European collection since this acquisition.
The canvas that served as a model was made in 1934 on his return from Barcelona and is now in the Reina Sofia National Art Centre Museum.
This tapestry was woven from the original canvas by the artist Joan Miró or from the cardboard that he made himself. The artist was fascinated by the remarkable handmade work, which was an exact replica of Marie Cuttoli's requirements. She imposed on Delarbre a total respect for the unusual nuances imposed by contemporary artists.
This imperative of fidelity in relation to the given model delayed the execution of the works and each square metre produced would require, as in previous centuries, between 6 and 8 months of work.
Joan Miró hung one of the three copies of this model on the wall in the dining room of his family home "Son Abrines" in Palma de Mallorca when he moved there in 1956 until his death. The artist's descendants sold it in June 2007 at Christie's in London.
Marie Cuttoli made with Delarbre 4 great compositions by Miró, "Character with Star" 1933 "Rhythmic Characters" 1934 "Swallow Love" 1933-1934 "Snail, Woman, Flower Star" 1934 "Marie Cuttoli, The modern Thread from Miró", The Barnes Foundation 2020,
Fig(85-86-87-88) reproduced, pages 133-134 and 135.
"I have been pursuing a persevering effort for ten years to constitute a modern school of tapestry. While relying on these ancient traditions which are impregnated the craftsmen of our country which was the cradle of the art of tapestry in the Middle Ages, I wished to put this immense wealth of traditional technique at the service of the most lively art, the most audacious, the most inclined towards the richness of the avant-garde.
Marie Cuttoli "La tapisserie", Les artistes à Paris (preface by Jean de Bosschère), Éditions Arts Science Lettres, Paris 1937.
Cardboard for "Escargot, Femme, Fleur, Et Étoile" 1934-1936, pencil and ink drawing, 190 x 170 cm, the work will be woven by Marcelle Delarbre
Private collection
Exhibition: "Renaissances et Métamorphoses de la tapisserie à Aubusson dans la première moitié du XXème siècle" Musée départemental de la tapisserie à Aubusson, 21 June-15 November 2010, by Dominique Paulvé, Éditions Norma, Paris 2010, reproduced and described in the catalogue, page 100 and 101.
Marie CUTTOLI (1879-1973) was both a collector and manager of the art carpet workshop Myrbor (for Myriam Bordes, her maiden name), which she set up in Algiers when her husband, Paul Cuttoli, was appointed Prefect of Algeria. Within Myrbor, she entrusted the creation of models to artists of the time from original canvases or cartoons made by artists such as Fernand Léger, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Joan Mirò. She distributes the pieces produced in Paris and collaborates in particular with the Jeanne Bucher gallery.
An original publishing project in hand-woven Aubusson tapestry.
Marie Cuttoli has led an editorial adventure that has allowed her to weave sumptuous tapestries, particularly fine, based on cubist paintings by Braque, works by Fernand Léger, Joan Miro, Raoul Dufy or Pablo Picasso. She also had Georges Rouault, Le Corbusier and a certain... Jean Lurçat. This set of weavings was first hung at her home, rue de Babylone in Paris, then at the Jeanne Bucher Gallery, before leaving for a trip to America.
An American tour for the French avant-garde
In 1939, thanks to the will of Dr. Barnes and Grace McCann Morley, curator of the San Francisco Museum of Art, she organized a trip across the Atlantic to exhibit the weavings she had made. This tour lasted four years and took place in several American museums: San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. The list of works is impressive: cubist still lifes by Braque, tapestries by Picasso, Rouault, Derain, Lurçat, Bauchant, Dufy or even Léger and Miro.
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