Boccara gallery owner Didier Marien with Hippocampe, ca. 1970 by Sonia Delaunay, a one-of-a kind hand knotted art rug designed by the famed French avante-garde artist.





Boccara Gallery is known worldwide for offering exceptional modern tapestries designed by twentieth century artists including Alexander Calder, Sonia Delaunay, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Leger and Jean Lurcat, as well as historically significant ancient tapestries. And now, exclusively for the 2020 Palm Beach Show, opening Friday, February 14th, gallery owner Didier Marien will present a collection of limited edition abstract art rugs by contemporary artists Benjamin Ewing, Anna Mac, Ellen Richman, David Stein and François Bonnel.  

 

The rugs are hand-knotted to exacting standards in the Boccara workshop, to produce a piece that merges the artist’s vision with the complexities and subtleties of the hand weaving process. Mr. Marien explains, “The artist not only creates the design but at every step of the creation maintains control over the project. The artistic rugs aren’t mere reproductions of an artist’s paintings, but are artistic pieces in their own right.” 




Abstract art rug by Benjamin Ewing, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 158 in.


Abstract art rug by Benjamin Ewing, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 158 in.


Portland, Oregon-based Benjamin Ewing has described his art as “tracing paths of vision.” Ewing’s designs are explorations of the language of line, with graceful, assured strokes that seem to evoke the drawings of Picasso and Matisse. Nuanced variations in weight and density translate the delicate, lyrical effect of the artist’s rendering directly onto the rug.

 


 


British artist Anna Mac’s designs are inspired by the conversations between colors and the power of color to draw the viewer in. She describes her creative process as a game, where she builds the composition piece by piece, each move leading to the next. Her creations contrast planes of delicate, watercolor-like tints punctuated by bold, deeper color shapes, with color harmonies that echo the works of Helen Frankenthaler.

 

Abstract art rug by Anna Mac, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 158 in.


Abstract art rug by Anna Mac, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 118 in.

 


 

Abstract art rug by Ellen Richman, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 118 in.

 

Abstract art rug by Ellen Richman, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 118 in.


“An exploration in abstraction” is how Minneapolis contemporary artist Ellen Richman describes her work. The universal language of color, and how colors interact to affect mood, emotions and the subconscious mind drive her creative process. Formal considerations of color, value contrast and scale, are worked through in a method that alternates between intuitive and critical, with minimalist shapes rendered in a glowing, rich palette. The rugs are a celebration of the contrast between minimalist shapes and voluptuous color.

 


 


Abstract art rug by David Stein, ed. 25, 2019. Wool, hand knotted in the Boccara workshop, 118 x 158 in.

 

British artist David Stein’s dynamic abstract work is influenced by 20th-century Constructivism and Minimalism, distilled to create expressions of balance and tension between complementary and contrasting form and space. Bold and visually compelling, the images are precisely modulated to convey flatness/stillness and dimensionality/movement at the same time. 




 

The gallery will also offer a selection of outstanding one-of-a-kind pieces from their latest acquisitions. Highlights include a magnificent Aubusson tapestry by French artist Claude Dodane, circa 1940, originally displayed at the Dodane watch factory in Besançon, France. Titled Allegory of Time, it lavishly and symbolically illustrates the theme of time. Also on offer, a wool tapestry Hippocampe (Seahorse), circa 1970, by Sonia Delaunay, multi-disciplinary, avante-garde French artist and co-founder, along with husband Robert Delaunay, of the art movement Simultanism. The principles of color harmony and the circle or disk shape, which can be seen in her work dating as early as 1914, are brilliantly depicted in this piece. French sculptor Émile Gilioli, best known for smooth-surfaced abstract geometric works and monumental outdoor pieces, also turned his hand to tapestry design. Envol evokes a sense of architectural structure and dynamic movement, and takes inspiration from the preliminary drawings Gilioli created prior to casting a work in bronze. 

 

Claude Dodane, Allegorie du temps, ca. 1940. Wool tapestry hand woven in Aubusson, 11.5 x 8.86 ft. 
Provenance: Dodane family collection, private collection.


Sonia Delaunay, Hippocampe, ca. 1970. Wool tapestry hand woven by Atelier Pierre Daquin (Atelier Saint-Cyr), 
240 x 181 cm; 94.5 x 71.3 in.


Émile Gilioli, Envol. Wool tapestry hand woven at Maison Pinton, 39.4 x 118 in.



Left:   Wang Keping, Le Couple. Bronze with black patina, ed. 6/8, signed and stamped by the Mariani Foundary Pietrasanta, Italy, 40 x 30 x 30 cm. Right: François Calvat, Untitled, 2001. Wood, rusty steel, lead, 181 x 165 cm. 


In addition to textile art, Boccara Gallery will be showing sculpture by Chinese artist Wang Keping whose works in bronze and wood suggest the feminine form with lush curves and glowing patina, and mixed-media assemblages by French artist François Calvat that explore the contrast between shadow and light, making use of weathered materials such rusty steel, burnt wood, and patinated zinc.


Look for Boccara Gallery at this year's Palm Beach Show (Booth 306/405), Friday, February 14 through Monday, February 17, 11am–7pm and Tuesday, February 18, 11am–6pm. Gallery owner Didier Marien will be on hand to welcome you and assist you in discovering these exciting new artists.  



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