The livre d'artiste, or 'artist's book', is among the most prized
in rare book collections. Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was one of the
greatest artists to work in this genre, creating his most important
books over a period of eighteen years from 1932 to 1950 - a time of
personal upheaval and physical suffering, as well as conflict and
occupation for France. Brimming with powerful themes and imagery,
these works are crucial to an understanding of Matisse's oeuvre,
yet much of their content has never been seen by a wider audience.
In Matisse: The Books, Louise Rogers Lalaurie reintroduces us to
Matisse by considering how in each of eight limited-edition
volumes, the artist constructs an intriguing dialogue between word
and image. She also highlights the books' profound significance for
Matisse as the catalysts for the extraordinary 'second life' of his
paper cut-outs. In concert with an eclectic selection of poetry,
drama and, tantalizingly, Matisse's own words, the books' images
offer an astonishing portrait of creative resistance and
regeneration. Matisse's books contain some of the artist's
best-known graphic works - the magnificent, belligerent swan from
the Poesies de Stephane Mallarme, or the vigorous linocut profile
from Pasiphae (1944), reversed in a single, rippling stroke out of
a lake of velvety black. In Jazz, the cut-out silhouette of Icarus
plummets through the azure, surrounded by yellow starbursts, his
heart a mesmerizing dot of red. But while such individual images
are well known, their place in an integrated sequence of pictures,
decorations and words is not. With deftness and sensitivity,
Lalaurie explores the page-by-page interplay of the books,
translating key sequences and discussing their distinct themes and
creative genesis. Together Matisse's artist books reveal his deep
engagement with questions of beauty and truth; his faith; his
perspectives on aging, loss, and inspiration; and his relationship
to his critics, the French art establishment and the women in his
life. In addition, Matisse: The Books illuminates the artist's
often misunderstood political affinities - in particular, his
decision to live in the collaborationist Vichy zone, throughout
World War II. Matisse's wartime books are revealed as a body of
work that stands as a deeply personal statement of resistance.
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