Alfred Latour: Look at Form
Musée Réattu, Arles, FR
27.04. – 06.10.2024

If the dialogue between the textiles and the photographs of Alfred Latour (Paris, 1888 – Eygalières, 1964) seems so obvious today, so visible are the aesthetic and formal links, it is the result of a new look at the work of this plural artist.

During his lifetime, Alfred Latour, a member of the Union of Modern Artists, was first known and recognized for his art of engraving, illustrated books, painting and drawing, as well as for his textile creations for major Lyon houses. As for his practice of photography, if he does not claim it as an artistic activity, it nevertheless plays an essential role in his creative process. Through his gaze, he produced a real photographic work, which was rediscovered in 2016 and exhibited for the first time at the Réattu Museum in 2018. It is therefore necessary to understand and apprehend these photos through the eye of the painter who finds in this technique a way to look at the world, to grasp the forms that will nourish his work drawn, painted or intended for the textile industry.

Part of the Associate Programme of the Rencontres d'Arles, the exhibition presents the research carried out between 1928 and 1964, in which we discover a subtle interweaving between the artist's means of expression.
How the pattern of a print designed for fashion or furniture, finds its source in the photographer's gaze.
How certain photographs inspire a pencil drawing and give rise to the simple and complex forms in the repetition imposed by the printing of patterns on fabric.
All these gestures have their origin in a perfect mastery of engraving, two-tone, the space of the plate, and the repetition of the motif.
To reveal the graphic genius of this protean artist, the exhibition is structured around four themes to confront photographs and textile works: PLANTS and NATURE - LINES and TRACES - BLACK & WHITE and COLOUR - GEOMETRY and ABSTRACTION.

From this perspective of the intrinsic links between the different means of expression (drawing, engraving, painting, photography, textile and fabric model), "Regard sur la forme" offers to discover from a new angle, the creative process and the resolutely modern artistic language of this major artist of the 20th century.

More information: museereattu.arles.fr/eng/alfred-latour-regard-eng.html