Mathieu Matégot

Mathieu Matégot was born in 1910 in Tapio-Sully, Hungary. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Budapest starting in 1925, where he met Vasarely. It wasn’t until 1931 that he arrived in Paris. From 1939 to 1944, he devoted himself to tapestry work. However, this work was interrupted by World War II, during which he was assigned to a mechanical construction factory, working with steel and its derivatives. Upon his return to Paris, he once again dedicated himself to tapestry as well as decoration, combining metal, rattan, leather, glass, and even perforated metal sheets. Influenced by his experiences with this material during the war in Germany, he imagined a new application for metal in decoration. Increasing demand led him to diversify his production and distribution capacity. In addition to his Parisian workshop, he added a factory in Casablanca and London. In 1964, he decided to exclusively focus on tapestry and ceased his activity as a decorator. As a non-figurative painter- cartoonist, accustomed to wall optics as a painter and theater decorator, he created entirely innovative new cartoons, which were then produced in Aubusson.
Initially influenced by Jean Lurçat, Matégot eventually broke free from his influence and adopted a strictly abstract approach. Matégot expressed himself solely through signs, rhythms, and color play, sensitized by the natural beauty of wool fibers. As an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, recipient of the Grand Prix of Honor at the International Exhibition in Madrid in 1953, Gold Medal from the Society for the Encouragement of Art and Industry in 1955, Honorary Diploma at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958, and Gold Medal at the 12th Milan Triennial, he was recognized as a major artist. His well-deserved reputation earned him private and public commissions for projects, for which he handled the design and realization in France, such as the Maison de la Radio, the Casino in Cannes, the Prefecture of Seine Maritime in Rouen, Air France, etc.