"Mastering the Fine Art of Tapestry"
with
Cresside Collette
7th – 26th
September 2015
From London to Aubusson - a
European adventure to discover the historical context and contemporary forms of
this rich, tactile medium and participate in a hands on learning experience of
this timeless art in a small exclusive interest group.
You will see the sublime
high points of Mediaeval craftsmanship embodied in the 15th C. suites of The Devonshire Hunts, the Lady and the Unicorn and the Apocalypse of Angers.
A visit to Stirling Castle
in Scotland will reveal the re-woven Hunt
of the Unicorn suite by the West Dean Tapestry Studio, an amazing exercise
in reproducing the art of the Middle Ages. At the V & A in London we will see the magnificence of the Raphael cartoons for the famous
Classical tapestries designed for Pope Leo X in 1515, and time will be spent in
the new Mediaeval and Renaissance galleries.
You will visit the private studios of contemporary tapestry artists working in
London and Edinburgh, and for the first time you will have the opportunity to
participate in a workshop conducted by renowned Scottish artist Linda Green. We will also be guided
through the famed Royal Gobelins
Workshop and experience the wonderful Mediaeval delights of the Musee du Moyen Age in Paris.
This exciting study tour
will be rounded off with a four day workshop at the Manoir du Bost in the heart of France to learn tapestry technique
first hand. Conducted by Cresside Collette, tapestry artist, scholar and
teacher, it will include day trips to nearby Aubusson, the beautiful French town that is synonymous with this
craft.
LONDON, 3 days
DAY 1 Monday September 7th
Check into Indigo
Paddington Hotel. www.indigopaddington.com
Visit
to The Victoria and Albert Museum www.vam.ac.uk in
South Kensington. Highlights will include viewing the 15th C.
tapestry suite, the Devonshire Hunts,
Raphael's cartoons for the Acts of the Apostles, and the Mediaeval and Renaissance galleries.
DAY 2 Tuesday September 8th
A
day at Hampton Court Palace, where
the collection includes The Story of
Abraham, the sumptuous Renaissance tapestries commissioned by Henry VIII. The
Tudor gardens are a special delight and a visit to the famous textile conservation
studio is being negotiated.
Then a studio visit to contemporary tapestry
artist William Jefferies at Kew
Gardens, on the way back to London.
DAY 3 Wednesday September 9th
Minibus
to Rickmansworth to visit artist Anna
Ray, http://www.annaray.co.uk whose innovative work is
redefining concepts of textiles and tapestry.
Minibus
to Hertfordsire to the Henry Moore
Foundation http://www.henry-moore.org
at Perry
Green, the home of Henry Moore for forty years, to view the spectacular
tapestries woven at the West Dean studio
from his drawings and displayed in the Aisled Barn.
The
lovely grounds include his outdoor sculpture, two large studios, a gallery and
his charming house, Hoglands.
Visit with Anna Ray
EDINBURGH and STIRLING, 4 days
DAY 4 Thursday September 10th
Train
to Edinburgh, check into Apex Waterloo Hotel www.apexhotels.co.uk/hotels/edinburgh-waterloo-place
DAY 5 Friday September 11th
The
historic Edinburgh Tapestry Company was established in 1912 under the patronage
of the Marquess of Bute and originally located in Costorphine, a suburb of
Edinburgh. Its internationally celebrated director in the 1960s and 70s was
Archie Brennan, who validated tapestry as a vital 20th C. art form, and
whose ideas served as a model for the establishment of the Victorian Tapestry
Workshop in Melbourne in 1976. In 2008 the Dovecot Studios moved to their
beautiful new premises, the former Baths in Infirmary Street.
Afternoon
visit to WASPS Studios. The Tapestry course at the Edinburgh College of Art gave
rise to the establishment of the artist/weaver and the proliferation of
individual studio practice around the world. Many former graduates are based
here and we will visit Jo Barker and
Fiona Hutchison.
DAY 6 Saturday September 12th
A
unique opportunity to create an individual Artist’s book with a renowned
tapestry artist in her own studio, and see a presentation on her work.
DAY 7 Sunday September 13th
A
studio visit to textile conservator, Alison
Docherty at Hopetoun House en route to
Stirling, to view the re-woven Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry installation in the refurbished Queen's
bedroom at St. James' Palace. www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/tapestries
Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestry
PARIS, 4 days
DAY 8 Monday September 14th
Fly
to Paris. We will be met on arrival and
transferred to the left bank Hotel Central St. Germain, 3, Rue Champollion, 75005,
Paris. http://centralsaintgermain.com/
DAY 9 Tuesday September 15th
A stroll down the colourful
market street, Rue Mouffetard, for
an afternoon visit to The Gobelins
Tapestry Workshop, www.museums-of
paris.com/musee_en.php?code=349, the most important and long running
workshop in the world, situated in the 13th arondissement. The Manufacture des Gobelins was founded as a dye works in the mid 15th
century by Jean Gobelin. In 1662, Louis XIV purchased the Gobelins manufactory
and his minister Colbert united all the royal artisans to create a royal
tapestry and furniture works specialising in tapestry from 1697.
A special guided tour by
arrangement.
DAY 10 Wednesday September 16th
A walk around the corner brings
us to the wonderful treasures of the Middle Ages housed in the Musee du Moyen Age www.musee-moyenage.fr/ang/index.html
This year we will enjoy the newly created front
entrance and celebrate the return of the sublime La Dame a la Licorne to a renovated setting. Other suites of
Mediaeval tapestries including The story of St. Stephen, The Offering of the
Heart and Aristocratic Life are also on view.
A free afternoon follows to
lunch and wander the Left Bank and the environs of the Seine.
DAY 11 Thursday September 17th
A morning at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs www.lesartsdecratifs.fr enjoying the best of the decorative
arts, from Mediaeval to Modern. Walk
across the manicured gardens to the courtyard of the Louvre and marvel at the art or stroll in the adjoining Tuileries to fill in the afternoon.
Musee du Moyen Age
ANGERS, 2 days
DAY 12 Friday September 18th
Train to Angers. This historic town in the Loire Valley
yields one of the most exciting experiences of the tour, viewing the 100 metre
long 14th C. Apocalypse tapestry,
the Book of Revelations made visible. Housed in the fortress chateau it is an
overwhelming sight.
After
booking into a quaint country style hotel, The Hotel du Mail, http//www.hotel du mail we
stroll through the Mediaeval town to make an afternoon visit to the Cathedral that
houses the Mediaeval Story of Saint
Maurille. Woven in 1378-81 for the Cathedral, the designs were drawn by
Jean Bondol based on illuminated manuscripts, and the weaving was overseen by
Nicolas Bataille whose workshops also produced the Apocalypse.
DAY 13 Saturday September 19th
A
morning visit to the Chateau www.francethisway.com/places/chateauangers.php to see
the Apocalypse and explore the many
delights of the garden and buildings, then a stroll along the river to see
Lurcat's answer to the magnificent Apocalypse, his Song of the World suite of ten tapestries woven from the mid 1950s
to the mid 1960s reflecting on the atom bomb, the apocalyptic event of the 20th
C.
They
are displayed in the heritage 12thC. St.
John's Hospital, adjoined by the Museum
Jean Lurcat http://musees.angers.fr/index.php?id=52338
that exhibits contemporary tapestry.
Lurcat's 'Song of the World'
BOURGANEUF and AUBUSSON,
7 days
DAY 14 Sunday September 20th
A week's accommodation in this splendid, secluded manor house in central
France offers a unique opportunity to learn the basics of Tapestry Weaving and
develop a real understanding of its brilliant technique. Beginners will learn
to set up a tapestry frame and weave basic shapes. More advanced students will
be encouraged to experiment with Mediaeval tapestry techniques such as hatching
to achieve colour gradations, and to adapt them to a contemporary style. Or
just relax, read, paint and draw in a beautiful setting.
All materials and looms provided.
All meals catered by professional chef, Valerie Largorsse.
La Demeure du Bost
DAY 15 Monday September 21st
Workshop commences
Full day
DAY 16 Tuesday September 22nd
Full
day workshop
DAY 17 Wednesday September 23rd
Day visit to Aubusson. www.aubusson.fr
Located a thirty minute
ride from the manoir, this pretty town in the heart of France has existed on
its weaving industry since the 14th C. Under the guidance of Susanne Bouret, conservator of textiles
and local resident, we will stroll its streets and visit the individual ateliers open to the public as well as
visiting more formal centres such as the Musee
de la Tapisserie.www.cite-tapisserie.fr
France Odile Perrin-Crinere and Martine
Stamm run studio Atelier A2. www.ateliera2.fr
Thierry Roger is the last traditional dyer of yarn in Aubusson. www.aubusson-teinture.fr
Chantal Chirac restores tapestry
cartoons and has built a cartoon museum for their display and preservation in a
picturesque building on the Pont de la Terrade.
The conservation studio of Susanne Bouret is
at the Terrade, next door to the Chirac Musee
de Carton.
Studio visit, Aubusson
DAY 18 Thursday September 24th
Full day workshop
DAY 19 Friday September 25th
Day trip to Felletin
We will travel to Felletin,
a small town 10 km. from Aubusson to view the historic workshop of Ateliers Pinton, www.ateliers-pinton.com one of two remaining
manufacturers that employs teams of weavers to make tapestries and also
produces rugs.
A lively street market
operates on Friday mornings, so we will indulge in a picnic lunch.
Then an afternoon visit to
the Eglise du Chateau to see the
annual tapestry exhibition that incorporates the most innovative work produced
in the previous year.
Farewell dinner with
Susanne Bouret at the Manoir.
Atelier Pinton Freres, Felletin
DAY 20 Saturday September 26th
Return to Paris by train
from Limoges, end of tour.
Read about the 2012 Tapestry Tour at tapestrytour.blogspot.com
Group at Stirling, 2012
TOUR DETAILS
Date and length of tour: 20 days starting in London and finishing
in Paris from September 7th to 26th, 2015.
Cost: $6,950.00 (AUD) for twin share, $8,695.00 (AUD) for single
room.
Group size: 6 minimum, 10 maximum.
TOUR DETAILS
Tour price includes:
All
accommodation
All breakfasts
All museum and
gallery entry charges
All meals at the
Manoir du Bost
All taxis and
transfers
London Oyster
card
1st class rail
from London King's Cross to Edinburgh
Return transport
from Edinburgh – Stirling
Tutored 1day
workshop with Linda Green
Minivan transfer
to Edinburgh airport
Air France
flight from Edinburgh to Paris
Minivan transfer
from Paris Charles de Gaulle to hotel
Paris Visite
Pass - 3 day/ zones 1- 3 Metro pass
Paris Museum
Pass - 2 day
Minivan transfer
from Paris hotel to station
1st class rail
from Paris to Angers
Private coach
transfer from Angers to the Manoir du Bost
Two excursions
to Aubusson and Felletin
Private coach
transfer to Limoges station
1st class rail
from Limoges to Paris
French speaking
guide in Aubusson and Felletin
Tutored 3 day
tapestry workshop with Cresside Collette
Loom hire and
materials.
Tour price does not include:
Airfare to
London and from Paris
Travel Insurance
Meals apart from
breakfast, except at the Manoir
Lunch at
Aubusson and Felletin (2 days)
Hotels mentioned
in the itinerary are subject to availability and others of similar quality may
be substituted.
This itinerary
has been prepared with the assistance of Ian
Jane at Bentleigh Travel who will be making all tour bookings.
BENTLEIGH TRAVEL CENTRE
Telephone: +61 3 9557 5898
Fax: +61 3 9557 4786
Shop 7, 271 - 275 Centre Road, P. O. Box
20, Bentleigh 3204, Victoria, Australia.
Email: ian@bentleightravel.com.au
Tour designed
and authored by Cresside Collette, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015.
Contact: cressidecollette@gmail.com
