Yvette Cauquil-Prince
Encyclopedia
Yvette Cauquil-Prince was a Belgian-born weaver, cartonnier and master craftswoman who created tapestries in direct collaboration with renowned 20th century artists and/or their estates. She is best known for her association with the artist Marc Chagall
, which resulted in over 40 tapestries, but she also created tapestries of art works by Pablo Picasso
, Max Ernst
, Roberto Matta
, Paul Klee
, Fernand Leger
, Wassily Kandinsky
, Brassai
, Alexander Calder
, Niki de Saint Phalle
, and others.
Cauquil-Prince attended the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
(ARBA) in Belgium, but her mastery of tapestry weaving was largely self taught, inspired by her study of Coptic textiles and tapestries from the Renaissance and Middle Ages.
She established her first studio in Paris in the late 1950s and later worked in Corsica. In 1963 Marie Cuttoli engaged Cauquil-Prince to weave Picasso tapestries, under the condition that she would remain in the background and never meet the artist personally. One of these tapestries, La Fermière, is now in the Picasso Museum at Antibes
.
Cauquil-Prince was awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite
in 1977 by the French government.
, shortly after Chagall had created tapestries for the Israeli Knesset
in the mid-1960s. Chagall and Cauquil-Prince formed a close personal as well as professional relationship which lasted until the artist’s death in 1985.
“I am like a conductor,” she told an interviewer, “and Chagall is the music. I must understand the work of Chagall so profoundly that I myself do not exist.” Chagall called her “the Toscanini
of tapestry,” and declared that “there will never be a tapestry by Chagall without you.”
In the early 1970s Chagall’s wife, Vava, became jealous of her husband’s special relationship with his collaborator (Chagall made it a point to tell everyone that Yvette Cauquil-Prince was his “petite fille” and “spiritual daughter). Shortly after executing commissions from the Jewish Museum Milwaukee and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
for what would be the first Chagall tapestries in America, Yvette was prevented from working with Chagall for a decade. During this period she developed her association with Max Ernst.
Shortly before Chagall’s death Vava relented and Cauquil-Prince resumed their collaboration. Chagall made Cauquil-Prince promise to continue to translate his works into tapestries, which she did with Vava’s blessings and later with Chagall’s children and grandchildren with whom she remained very close.
:
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, which resulted in over 40 tapestries, but she also created tapestries of art works by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Roberto Matta
Roberto Matta
Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
, Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
, Fernand Leger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
, Brassai
Brassaï
Brassaï was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars...
, Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
, Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine-Marie-Agnès-Brandon Fal de Saint Phalle was a French sculptor, painter, and film maker.-The early years:...
, and others.
Cauquil-Prince attended the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
The Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels is an art school, founded in 1711.The faculty and alumni of ARBA include some of the most famous names in Belgian painting, sculpture, and architecture: James Ensor, Rene Magritte, and Paul Delvaux...
(ARBA) in Belgium, but her mastery of tapestry weaving was largely self taught, inspired by her study of Coptic textiles and tapestries from the Renaissance and Middle Ages.
She established her first studio in Paris in the late 1950s and later worked in Corsica. In 1963 Marie Cuttoli engaged Cauquil-Prince to weave Picasso tapestries, under the condition that she would remain in the background and never meet the artist personally. One of these tapestries, La Fermière, is now in the Picasso Museum at Antibes
Château Grimaldi (Antibes)
The Château Grimaldi at Antibes is built upon the foundations of the ancient Greek town of Antipolis. Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France, on the Mediterranean Sea.-History:...
.
Cauquil-Prince was awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite
Ordre National du Mérite
The Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
in 1977 by the French government.
Collaboration with Chagall
Cauquil-Prince was introduced to Chagall by Madeleine Malraux, wife to the French minister of Culture, André MalrauxAndré Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
, shortly after Chagall had created tapestries for the Israeli Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
in the mid-1960s. Chagall and Cauquil-Prince formed a close personal as well as professional relationship which lasted until the artist’s death in 1985.
“I am like a conductor,” she told an interviewer, “and Chagall is the music. I must understand the work of Chagall so profoundly that I myself do not exist.” Chagall called her “the Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
of tapestry,” and declared that “there will never be a tapestry by Chagall without you.”
In the early 1970s Chagall’s wife, Vava, became jealous of her husband’s special relationship with his collaborator (Chagall made it a point to tell everyone that Yvette Cauquil-Prince was his “petite fille” and “spiritual daughter). Shortly after executing commissions from the Jewish Museum Milwaukee and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago , ranked the "#1 Rehabilitation in America" by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1991 is a rehabilitation hospital located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It also operates a network of alliance hospitals and outpatient and day rehabilitation...
for what would be the first Chagall tapestries in America, Yvette was prevented from working with Chagall for a decade. During this period she developed her association with Max Ernst.
Shortly before Chagall’s death Vava relented and Cauquil-Prince resumed their collaboration. Chagall made Cauquil-Prince promise to continue to translate his works into tapestries, which she did with Vava’s blessings and later with Chagall’s children and grandchildren with whom she remained very close.
Solo Exhibitions
- 1971, Galerie Verrière, Paris, France
- 1975, Chapelle des Cordeliers, Sarrebourg, France
- 1976, Exposition Marc Chagall, Hongrie et Pologne
- 1976, Exposition Max Ernst, Arles, France
- 1976, Exposition Max Ernst, USA
- 1976, Exposition Max Ernst, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, Belgique
- 1976, Exposition Max Ernst, Arts Center Museum, Philadelphia, PA
- 1976, Exposition Max Ernst, Art Center, Milwaukee, WI
- 1976, Exposition Max Ernst, Art Center Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- 1976, Galerie Dario Boccara, Paris, France
- 1979, Musée de Heidelberg, Allemagne
- 1979, Musée de Céret, Catalogne, France
- 1981, Centre Teschigahara, Tokyo, Japan
- 1983, Abbaye de l'Epau, France
- 1985, Musé de l'Athénée, Geneva, Switzerland
- 1991, Musée de Heidelberg, Germany
- 1992, Exposition Yvette Cauquil-Prince, Tampere, Finland
- 1993, Exposition Yvette Cauquil-Prince, Veruela Abbey, Spain
- 1993, Exposition Yvette Cauquil-Prince, Zaragoza, Spain
- 1994, Inauguration of Chagall tapestry La Paix, Sarrebourg, France
- 1996, Three Japanese Museums, Musée Mercéan à Kannùzuwa, (April 2—October 2)
- 1996, Exposition Yvette Cauquil-Prince (December 2—January 10, 1997), Marseille, France
- 1997, Exposition Yvette Cauquil-Prince (March 27—May 25), Musée de Liège, Belgium
- 1997, Musée du Mans, France (July 1—September 2)
- 1998, Heidelberg, Germany
- 1998, New York, NY
- 1998, Minsk, Belarus
- 2005, Musée du Pays de Sarrebourg (May 13—September 3), France
Group Exhibitions
- 1971, Biennale de Lausanne, Switzerland
- 1972, Museum of Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1973, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium
- 1975, Exposition Paul Klee, Galerie Flinker, Paris, France
- 1975, Biennale de Menton, France
- 1976, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
- 1977, Exposition Marc Chagall, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, Kumamoto, Japon
- 1980-1981, Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération, Paris, France
- 1986, Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohana, Kyoto, Japan
- 1992, Exposition Marc Chagall, Barcelona, Spain
- 1992, Exposition Marc Chagall, Mexico City, Mexico
- 1995, Exposition Marc Chagall, Linz, Austria
- 1995, Exposition Marc Chagall, Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Nice-Cimiez, France
- 1996, Retrospective in Japan
- 2000, Exposition Chagall, Johannesburg and Capetown, South Africa
- 2000, Exposition Chagall, Minsk, Belarus
- 2004, Jewish Museum, Frankurt-am-Main (Chagall), Germany
Selected Art Fairs
Exhibited by the Jane Kahan GalleryJane Kahan Gallery
The Jane Kahan Gallery is a New York City art gallery best known for Picasso ceramics and modern master tapestries. The gallery was established in 1973 and still occupies its original space on Madison Avenue and 73rd Street....
:
- 2001-2003, Art Miami
- 2007, Haughton Art and Design Fair New York
- 2007-2008, Los Angeles Art Show
- 2008, Moscow World Fine Art Fair
- 2010, Los Angeles Art Show
- 2010, Haughton Art Antiques London
- 2010, International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show New York
- 2011, Haughton Art Antiques London