Le Battue aux Sangliers dans le Quercy [“The Boar Hunt of Quercy.”]

(SZYK, ARTHUR)

Gouache. Vibrant colors, silver decorated border

It was often customary for many French Departements seeking to ennoble their part of the country, to commission tapestries from the distinguished Manfacture de Gobelin of Paris. The Gobelin firm would conduct a contest for the artist with the best design, which would subsequently be weaved into a tapestry for the Departement. Many artists, such as Miro, Picasso, and Matisse all produced designs for Gobelin. In 1926, a design-contest was held by Gobelin for the Departement of Le Quercy. Pierre Benoit, author of Le Puits de Jacob, lived in the area, and he no doubt encouraged Szyk to submit a design. The winning image Szyk produced is of a wild boar-hunt with the castle Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the background. A slightly modified version of the painting is seen in the postcard that accompanies this gouache. It was one of a set issued by Szyk's firm Les Editions de la Miniature Moderne. See J.P. Ansell, Arthur Szyk p. 63