Aubusson 'Butterfly' tapestry by Jean Lurcat

Aubusson tapestry wool, hand woven. Made in France.

Jean Lurçat (1892-1966) was a painter, ceramist and designer of French tapestry. His is largely known for his work with tapestries and its new language. In 1937 he discovered the Apocalypse tapestry. He settled in Aubusson with Gromaire Dubreuil and attempted to revive the art of tapestry which by that tome had fallen out of favor. He chose to reduce the number of colors (the weavers of Aubusson used nearly 3,000) and retained only 44 mostly dark colors. The butterfly motif is recurrent in his work and evokes excitement and lightness.