Sentinel II
Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop.
With label, n°1/3, and another label from “Art Vivant Inc.” gallery.
Circa 1969.
John Coburn is one of those artists of various countries of origin who turned their attention to the conception of tapestries and whose work was woven in Aubusson. The Pinton workshop notably struck up close links with Australia, and, as of 1966, contacted Coburn to invite him to design cartoons (almost a hundred all told), of which the most emblematic and spectacular are “Curtain of the Sun” and “Curtain of the Moon” for the Sydney Opera House (Coburn moved to France for a certain number of years in order to be close to the site of their production). Despite a style that evolves over time, his work, inspired by aboriginal art, is always extremely decorative, characterized by the use of bright (even garish) color in sharply delineated geometric and abstract blocks, and also motifs inspired by the natural world.
This example dates from this artist’s most rarefed period, characterized by the use of wave-shaped forms echoing each other in ring shapes, in designs reminiscent of op art.
