Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 5 : Presscuttings, June 1972 - November 1976

"COURIER MAIL" Brislwne, Old. 6 SCP ,~11,- Magnificenl • tapestries MAGNIFICENT and resplendent ore the words to describe the effect of Jeon Lurcot's tapestries, which for a brief time ore adorn– Ing St. John's Cathe– dral. we are rather for– tunate that our pro– vlalonal art gallery In the M.I.M. Building was neither available, nor suitable, to ac– commodate the exhi– bition. * The Important thing about tapestry Is that tt has a special role to fill on the archi– tectural scale. In St. John's Cathedral It has been possible to fulfil this role much better than In most galleries. Furthermore, the tapestries, as In the Middle Ages, give warmth to the cold stone .,walls. On entering the Cathedral, o n e I s transported Into Lur– cat's magical cosmo– geny or suns and stars, man, beasts and plants. Everything radiates with Lurcat's passion– ate worship of all life. Of course, Lurcat Is the giant of modern tapestry.· * It Is largely his LURCAT's magnificent "Tout feu, tout flomme", hung above the alt •rat St. John's Cathedral. genius and dedication which restored the ancient craft to lt1\ true roots after the long decay Into which it had fallen - a de– cay brought about by reducing the weavers to mere skilled copy– ists of paintings never Intended for tapes– tries. Since the age of 20, Lurcat embarked on long studies of the craft of weaving and tts technical possibili– ties, which resulted in a return to the splen– did tradltlon of the Middle Ages, with the famous tapestry series, the 14th-Century Apo– calypse of Angers, as his greatest lnsplrn– tlon. Thus, tapestry was restored to Its archi– tectural function - to complete co-opera– t.lon between cartoon– designer and .weaver, the use of sturdy wool and robust texture, clear design, a few - but living - colors, and, Inasmuch as Lur– cat was concerned, a universally significant content us Important a s the decorative qualities. Lurcat, who died In 1966, was most proli– fic. More than 1000 or his cartoons were woven by the wonder– ful weavers or Aubus– son. The 27 tapestries which span more than two decades of his creative life and bear the stamp of his fec– und poetic Imagination and artistic genius, will be on view until September 30 for seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. One Is indebted In– deed to The Peter Stuyvesant Trust for affording u s o n c e more a rare feast. ._ 12 ,·•174- nt( AUSTIAllAH Thvndav Se,ttmwer ,,,,n. ., L; 11, _. , /;..~ I ie"l . -,. ' l (.. I / ,, / Arts centre gets push Nt\t • ut11l Aatty a.nd a s ln I<" r "" th t~ Q..,._· la11tl I ,~hl ()J:>M"\\ Com· ~.m ny ,,th,...,. c- 11 tn m \ t t r f' ·111t'l11brrs mdude the ,4.. s-n-:t- d l :'H • .. :1 uu: t, .... ~ ;vhk h hupm t 1 111nti:. 1· ~1~•r11~lat1d'g ~lrt,V. t"•'"" nrw "'1A t't'nln · " rMlillY wn.'\ fnnnr,J UI ltrtc..tJO?lf' 1 \'f'ster~)' 1 (11rt•, tor or the Quecr1fi 4 hHld 1'!1(~-ttrr a ·,mpttnj', M r A IQ n F..iw.nlll : the chr,·nor or t.l H" Q\leirns- . ... r•il10 pd-...,lll llllty ~r W tl .Jl'1 l 1\·t11g, v.o.-, r lf.,_•trd c h..,tmr,u , T ht' v1('e .d m1rrn..,11 1 Mr t,.1:kt F \'11.I\S :tw ,,r l• nd Youth Orchaltra. ! M r John Curro, :,nd the Ant llran Of"".ln nf Hns– bll11t: [}nut lun 01-,.>rgr The Queensland Art Gallery society has Invited the publlc to attend a function to be held In St. John's Cathedral on Thurs– day, September 19, at 8 p.m. The president of the society, Dr. Gertrude Langer, will give a short talk on the his– tory of tapestry, which will be followed by two Lurcat films.