| Time and Line: brief history of Modern Tapestry | | Print | |
|
Tapestries being woven with discontinuous weft on vertical loom also known as high warp (haute lisse), have been seen illustrated on Egyptian grave goods found in the grave of Beni-Hassan (1700-2000 B.C)[i]. Low warp ((basse lisse) weaving on a horizontal plane develop at a later period. Today the distinction in the two forms of Tapestry is often referred to as Goblin (high warp) or Aubusson (low warp), but it is the use of the discontinuous warp that identifies it as tapestry. The inserting (interlacing) of coloured yarn to build shape, shading, and line, beside a different colour yarn that builds another shape etc. etc. etc., beside yet another coloured yarn to create the tapestry picture. “The need for the collaboration of skilled weavers and the high cost of wages and materials has ensured that large–scale tapestry production has traditionally depended upon organized workshops either subsidized by rich patrons, or funded by wealthy merchants who could afford to wait several years for a return on their investment. Consequently, although tapestry is an ancient craft, the turbulent social and economic conditions of the early medieval period probably account for the fact that, with the exceptions of isolated production in monasteries, no significant industry developed in Europe until the early fourteenth century”.[ii] “Tapestry: a piece of tissue or handiwork used for decorating a bedroom or any other room of a house. This furnishing can be made of all Kinds of material: brocatelle, Bruges satin, calamanco, caddis, etc…” this is a 18th century definition of tapestry, printed in the Encyclopedia of arts, crafts and sciences published by Diderot and d’Almbert. shows in part the state of decadence into which a once noble art had fallen [iii]
In the beginning of the 20th century the state of tapestry weaving was in a somewhat disorganized and failing state. Production studios in various European countries were dealing with a changed clientele whose taste was being “guided”/ invent by the likes of Bernard Berenson, “art Historian,” aka a professional shopper whose expertise in Renaissance art allowed Tapestry to be considered appropriate as interior décor. While this clientele of “La Bell Epoch” or the “Golden Age” began to support this new hybrid of art historian/ taste maker/ architect /designer phenomena, they looked more and more for “professional” taste to insure their status in the upper class. The market place for these “Interior décor” items (tapestries) kept a number of reduced studios producing reproductions and carrying out restoration work along with the training of artisans, but without much vigour or originality. The French tapestry production had yet to recover from the exodus of many skilled weavers after the reversal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, after which the Huguenots (with estimates ranging from 200,000 to 1,000,000 including a disproportionate number of weavers) fled to surrounding Protestant countries: England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Prussia. Add to that French revolution during which the traditional Client was brought to the guillotine en mass and the outline of the diasporas of tapestry making begins to emerge. It took the 1849 Gold rush in United States to start building wealth in that country; by the end of the century, the United States was supporting what as left of the European Tapestry Studio system. The disruption caused to the entire world textile industry by the A merican Civil War ultimately added to the purses of the new rich.The first half of the twentieth century was a period of revival and slow change with artists beginning to investigate tapestry with a more hands on approach. New cartoons for weavers were created while they were learning the possibilities of the media. When weaver Marie Teinitzerova- Hoppeova in Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s commissioned cartoons from Paris based artists such as Dufy, Gerian, Léger, Braque, Picasso, Rouault, Lurçat and Miro, and exchanged tapestries rather then cash with those artists, contemporary “modern” art began to be presented in Tapestry form. The more radical approach of weavers working from their own cartoons was a war away. It is the postwar “modern” architectural movement and La Corbusier’s clarion call for tapestries to decorate the walls of the new architecture that brings about a new focus appreciation and vigorous study of the history and technical knowledge. These factors came together to place tapestry in an awkward no man’s land, suspect in both the studio craft movement and fine arts world. Authorship of this work was confusing to many. Were cartoons the “original” work of art and the tapestry a reproduction? If studio woven, how were the multiple weavers collaborating, or was it a collective enterprise? By the nineteen sixties, when individual weavers were working from their own cartoons, a movement that became known as the “Fibre Revolution” changed the concept of what a tapestry was, without looking back for historical validation Rudolf Hoffmiester, in his essays on Contemporary Tapestries in the 1965 book “Great Tapestries,” looks at this period of the first sixty years of the twentieth century to find the various lose threads and bind them together. The Tapestry Biennale in Lausanne Switzerland, sponsored by the Centre of Ancient and Modern Tapestry in 1962, was a landmark occasion in bringing together the newest tapestry work by artists from around the world to be exhibited and compared. For this first exhibition, more then one hundred and fifty artist from seventeen countries submitted tapestries that were a minimum of 13 square yards in size. What impressed the jurors was the fact that artists experimenting in similar ways produced extremely different results. These differences set the tone and the standard for thirty years that resulted in bolder experimentation that took tapestry off the wall and into the realm of sculpture. We were witnessing a revolution rather then establishing cohesive standard. It became a battle ground that opened the door to the discourse between fine arts, textile arts and crafts that continues today. Over that time period a handful of Canadians were accepted to show at the Biennale. Mariette Rousseau-Vermette and Krystyna Sadowska [iv] participated the first year. Sadowska, originally from Poland, immigrated to Canada from Brazil in 1949. Rousseau-Vermett was Quebec born. Both weavers had received their tapestry education in Europe. Laurent Roberge[v] and Badanna Zack[vi], who where part of the 12th edition in 1985, were products of Canadian university MFA programmes. This shift in locations of basic training was representative of the change of attitudes and the availability of textile education in post secondary education in Canada. In total seventeen Canadians exhibited at Lausanne, some more then once. The work of these artists could not be more different. Few identify themselves as Tapestry artists; some see themselves as fibre/textile artists, while most self identify as fine artist rather than as crafts people.  Tamara Jaworska: Unity was made for Gulf Canada Square in Calgary is twenty two feet high and thirty three feet wide 401 9th Ave SW The question raised a half century ago about what is it, and how to allocate authorship/ (who made it?), still continue but with more weavers working from their own design independent of a “Factory Studio” than previously. Tapestry makers are again worrying that the tradition is failing because students who see the time involved without the product having an economic return are resistant to doing it. It is the examples of large scale architectural installations [ such as Tamara Jaworska’s Unity is 22’ X 33’), rather than intimate human scale (apartment size) and less labor intense work to look at, rather then learning the technique, that makes the thought of doing tapestry work daunting. “They are- or they were intended to be – in close touch with contemporary life. How does tapestry find its place in the lives of 20th century people? First of all, a fair number- usually the smaller ones because of the size of modern apartments- go to private buyers and are therefore never seen by the public. However, monumental tapestries (13 square yards and upwards) are like frescoes inevitably part of public surroundings. Some join their ancestors in churches… in 1962, Graham Sutherland decorated the choir of Coventry Cathedral with an enormous tapestry- the biggest ever to have been woven (roughly 25 yards high by 13 yards wide) dedicated to “Christ in Glory”. ” Weaving a line in time, Tapestry is an ever evolving story perpetually in need of retelling. joe lewis Notes [i] Tapisserie de France website http://www.tapisserie.fr/tapestry.001300.us.html [ii] 5000 years of Textiles, edited by Jennifer Harris, p 188. London, England, British Museum. 1993. (ISBN: 0714117153) Gilt Embossed Cloth, 28.5 x 23 Cms. 320 pages - in English - 327 color and 98 b/w illustrations - a survey by 24 experts of textile art and production from pre-history to the present day, featuring fabrics from museums and collections worldwide - textile techniques - the ancient world, the Near & Middle East, India, Pakistan, carpets, the Far East, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, the Americas and Africa - biblio. glossary and index. [iii] & [vii] JOBE, JOSEPH [ed.]. “Great Tapestries, The Web of History from the 12th to the 20th Century”. Text by Verlet, Florisoone, Hoffmeister, and Tabard. 278 pp. profusely illus. with monochrome and tipped-in color plates plus numerous text figures. Folio, cloth in board slipcase. Lausanne, Edita, 1965. [iv] Krystyna Sadowska was born in 1914 in Lublin, Poland. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1937. She continued studying at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, and Holbourne School of Art. She specialized in sculpture, drawing, painting, ceramics and tapestry. Her works are displayed in museums, galleries and private collections in England, France, Brazil, Canada, USA and Poland. [v] Laurent Roberge has an MFA from Concordia University and diplomas from the Emily Carr College of Art and McGill University. He has exhibited in Canada and abroad and has received several awards for his work. [vi] Bandanna Zack. 1952-53 McGill University ARCHITECTURE
|
|||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|