About this artwork
Matisse’s first livre d’artiste (artist’s book), Poems of Stéphane Mallarmé (Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé) was the second publication produced by Albert Skira. The first was Pablo Picasso’s illustrations for Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Les Métamorphoses), published the year before. Both series use the simple power of the etched line to suggest volume and movement. In the case of Matisse, he avoided heavy shading so as not to detract from the ethereality of Mallarmé’s poetry. While inspired by the poems, Matisse’s prints stand alone as works of art and call upon some of his most iconic imagery: flowers, nudes, and portraits.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Henri Matisse
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Title
- Poésies
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Place
- France (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Published 1932
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Medium
- Book with letterpress in black and red and 29 etchings in black on cream wove Japanese vellum, bound in brown leather and brown paperboard cover with gold stamped spine
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Inscriptions
- Signed and inscribed on half title page, verso center, in pen and black ink: “26 / Henri Matisse”
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Dimensions
- Closed: 34 × 26 × 3.4 cm (13 7/16 × 10 1/4 × 1 3/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Lt. Col. A. Peter Dewey Memorial
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Reference Number
- 1946.1043.30
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Copyright
- © 2018 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Extended information about this artwork
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