Bernard Cathelin was born in Paris in 1919. He was very attached to his home country and specially his region, the Drôme.
Former student of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris, he has always kept his own style and way of painting, mainly oils on canvas, using brushes or knives.
His palettes, extremely rich in color and material, have been influenced by the countries where he has stayed. First of all, the Drôme, his childhood land, but also Mexico, India and then, halfway through his life, Japan, a country that inspired the architecture of the artist’s works until his last creations.
In July of 1973, Bernard Cathelin enlisted Atelier 3 to craft his inaugural tapestry, “The Mexican Market.” This marked the genesis of an enduring, even posthumous, exclusive partnership between Cathelin and Atelier 3. Their collaboration seamlessly fused Cathelin’s painting style with the exceptional weaving expertise of the atelier, resulting in a magnificent array of unique tapestries boasting a distinctive, handcrafted texture achievable only through the skilled hands of true artisans. The process is entirely manual, devoid of any “diagrams,” relying solely on the original artwork facing the loom. Presently, Atelier 3, spurred by the Boccara Gallery, continues to produce tapestries envisioned by Bernard Cathelin, maintaining the artistic legacy they began together.
