FOR THE LOVE OF LURÇAT

Jean Lurçat lived in a golden time for European art: he was friends with leading lights of the Cubist and Surrealist movements in the 1920s, but unlike them, never became a household name. That was partly due to his preferred media – tapestry, ceramics, fabric and wallpaper, as well as poetry – but also to his unconventional aesthetic, inspired by the decorative arts of the Middle Ages and dominated by animals, fantastical creatures and cosmology. Now Lurçat is making waves again thanks to a new collection of fabrics and wallpapers by Pierre Frey, created in collaboration with the Jean and Simone Lurçat Foundation. There are three fabrics and three wallpapers, including the Matisseesque ‘Sirènes’; ‘Arlequins’ linen, a colourful treatment of the harlequin theme; and ‘Champagne’ wallpaper, a dreamlike evocation of bubbles, starbursts and birds. Fabrics, from £103.20 per metre; wallpapers, £199.20 per ten-metre roll (pierrefrey.com). You can also visit the Atelier-musée Jean Lurçat, the artist’s home and studio, in France (46400 Saint-laurent-les-tours). From left ‘Arlequins’ linen. ‘Sirènes’ fabric in blue and yellow. ‘Soleil Noir’ linen. A fantastical mural inside the Atelier-musée Jean Lurçat. Pink ‘Champagne’ wallpaper