Jean Lurçat. Earth, Fire, Water, Air

Familiar with the Lot region, where he settled after the Second World War, and a privileged resident of the Sant Vicens pottery in Perpignan from 1951 onwards, Jean Lurçat is one of the artists with local ties to whom the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud has given pride of place since redesigning its permanent exhibition space in 2017 (see article). Following in the footsteps of Georges Daniel de Monfreid (see article) and Richard Guino, he now has a dedicated exhibition focusing on the ceramics he produced in the Occitan region. Although exhibited and celebrated during his lifetime, his ceramics - like his paintings and drawings - remained in the shadow of tapestries until their recent revival to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his death. An anthology of some forty ceramics from the artist’s personal collection held by the Fondation Jean et Simone Lurçat was presented at the Académie des Beaux-Arts during the major monographic exhibition in 2016, accompanied by a pioneering essay by Xavier Hermel (see article).

1. Gustave Violet (1873-1952)
Vase aux Tahitiennes, c. 1905-1914
Enamelled terracotta - 38 x 18.5 cm
Private collection
Photo: Private collection

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2. Gustave Fayet (1865-1925)
Louis Paul (1854-1922), ceramist
A Vase with Seaweed, 1897-1901
Glazed terracotta - 71 x 32 cm
Private collection,
on deposit at Narbonne, Abbaye de Fontfroide
Photo: Private collection

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The Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud is now bringing together more than twice as many pieces, curated by Pascale Picard, its director, and Salima Hellal, curator in charge of objets d’art at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, and a specialist in contemporary ceramics. More than a hundred pieces have been selected following extensive preliminary research, based on a study of around 450 ceramics and the use of sources from the Lurçat Foundation and the Sant Vicens workshop compiled by Sandrine Nicollier, an independent documentalist with whom the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud had already collaborated on the Guino-Renoir exhibition. The collection focuses exclusively on Lurçat’s ceramic production in Perpignan at the Sant Vicens workshop, and does not mention his more anecdotal collaboration with Haviland in Limoges from 1961 onwards.

3. View of the exhibition
Jean Lurçat (1892-1966)
Carpets, Gémeaux
Paris, Maison-atelier Lurçat
Vase, Leaves and faces
Perpignan, Sant Vicens ceramics collection
Jean Lurçat and Gumersind Gomila (1905-1970)
Panel from the "Le Catalogne" building in Perpignan
Perpignan, Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud
Gumersind Gomila
Amphora, Sun and Foliage
Eric Talavan Collection
Pierre Saint Paul (1926-2018)
Candelabra
Department of Lot, Jean Lurçat Workshop-Museum
Photo: JD

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4. Jean Lurçat (1892-1966) and Gumersind Gomila (1905-1970)
Sant Vicens studio, Perpignan
Panel for the "Le Catalogne" building in Perpignan, c. 1960-1961
Enamelled lava - 300…