Jean LURÇAT
1892–1966, France
Jean Lurçat was born in Bruyères, Vosges, the son of Lucien Jean Baptiste Lurçat and Marie Emilie Marguerite L'Hote. He was the brother of André Lurçat, who became an architect. After his secondary education at Épinal, he enrolled at La Faculté des sciences de Nancy and studied medicine. He went to Switzerland and Germany (Munich) and in leaving his educational path, he went to the workshop of Victor Prouvé, the head of the École de Nancy.
In 1912, Jean Lurçat took residence in Paris with his brother André. He en-rolled at the Académie Colarossi, then at the workshop of the engraver, Bernard Naudin. He met painters such as Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir; his friends included Rainer Maria Rilke, Antoine Bourdelle, and Elie Faure. Lurçat and three associates founded the Feuilles de Mai (The leaves of May), a journal of art in which these celebrities participated. He then became an apprentice of the painter Jean-Paul Lafitte with whom he had an exhibition at La faculté des sciences de Marseille. His first journey to Italy was interrupted in August by the declaration of war. Back in France, Lurçat joined the infantry, but was evacuated on 15 November after falling ill. During his recovery to health, in 1915, he practised painting and lithography. In July, 1916, he returned to the front, but was evacuated once again due to injury. He never returned to the front. In September, his art was put on exhibition in Zürich.
In 1917, Jean Lurçat made his first tapestries: Filles Vertes (Green Girls) and Soirée dans Grenade (Evening in Grenada). At the end of the war in 1918, he returned to Switzerland where he had a holiday in Ticino (Swiss Italy), with Rilke, Busoni, Hermann Hesse and Jeanne Bucher. His second exhibition took place in Zürich in the same year. In 1920, he travelled extensively: Berlin, Munich, Rome, Naples. Then he took up residence in Paris with Marthe Hennebert. It was she who wove two tapestries: Pêcheur (Fisherman) and Piscine (Swimming pool). He unveiled in the same year, at Le Salon des Indépendants, two tapestries and four paintings. He met the art merchant, Étienne Bignou.
In 1921, Jean Lurçat met Louis Marcoussis, he discovered Picasso and Max Jacob, and created decoration and costumes for Le spectacle de la Compagnie Pitoeff: "He who receives slaps", and then spent the autumn near the Baltic sea. The following year, he created his fifth tapestry, Le Cirque (the circus), for Mme. Cuttoli. His first personal exhibition took place in Paris in April and September. He made a large decoration on a wall (no longer visible today) at the Castle of Villeflix. Then he went to Berlin, where he met Feruccio Busoni.
During the next two years Lurçat resumed travelling. In 1923 he went to Spain; in 1924 he went to North Africa, the Sahara, Greece and Asia Minor. Upon his return, he signed a contract without exclusivity with his friend, Étienne Bignou. His brother André built his new house, Villa Seurat, in Paris. He devoted a portion of the year 1924 to the making of his sixth tapestry, Les arbres (The trees). On 15 December, Lurçat married Marthe Hennebert and traveled in 1925 to Scotland, then Spain and northern Africa. Upon his return, he took up residence at La Villa Seurat. He participated in several expositions with Raoul Dufy, Marcoussis, Laglenne and others. He revealed, at the home of Jeanne Bucher, elements of decoration (carpets and paintings) of Le Vertige, a film by Marcel l'Herbier. In 1926, he exhibited in Paris and Brussels, and participated in collective exhibitions in Vienna, Paris, and Anvers. His fame began due to several articles devoted to him....
Jean Lurçat introducerades i konstens värld av sina föräldrar och Victor Prouve, grundaren av Ecole de Nancy. Inledningsvis valde Lurçat, som föddes 1892, att studera medicin men övergav dessa studier i oktober 1912 för att istället bege sig till Paris. Konsten skulle från och med nu vara det han skulle ägna sitt liv och han skrev in sig vid såväl Ecole des Beaux-Arts som Academie Colarossi där han särskilt uppskattades som elev av gravören Bernard Naudin. Lurçat umgicks frekvent i de konstnärliga kretsarna kring Picasso och Marcoussis, han influerades av kubismen, särskilt Georges Braques och grundade i november 1912 den avantgardistiska konsttidskriften Les Feuilles de Mai.
Under första världskriget stred Lurçat vid två tillfällen vid fronten men sårades båda gångerna varpå han under sina rehabiliteringar istället fortsatte att hänge sig konsten. Debututställningen ägde rum i september 1917 i Zürich. Under tjugotalets första år inleddes en period av intensivt resande till Tyskland, Spanien, Nordafrika, Sahara, Grekland m. fl. I december 1924 gifte sig Lurçat med Marthe Hennebert och tillsammans reste de äkta makarna till Skottland, Spanien och norra delarna av Afrika. Motivet till auktionens målning, Paysage Algerien har hämtats från bröllopsresan. Efter återkomsten till den franska huvudstaden där paret bosatte sig visades Lurçats målningar i såväl den franska huvudstaden som i Bryssel. Det var också nu som Lurçat, tack vare flera positivt inställda artiklar i olika tidningar och tidskrifter, blev ett välkänt och uppskattat namn.
Under hela sin karriär utvecklade Lurçat en särpräglad och innovativ stil. Den konstnärliga utvecklingen var konstant och som sina främsta inspirationskällor fann han de olika resorna till allt vad vår exotiska värld har att erbjuda. Hans egenartade stil präglas av en primitiv ursprunglig karaktär i vilken han på ett innerligt sätt med hjälp av olika symboler komponerar sina alster. Med åren kom Lurçats konstnärliga bana att inte bara innefatta måleriet utan även andra uttryck tog sin form - inom bland annat keramiken och inte minst den vävda tapetkonsten betraktas han som en stor innovatör och nydanare.
Source: http://auktionsverket.se/