Color lithograph after the work by Henri Matisse, from the edition of 200.
This lithograph was printed and published in 2007 in our Art-Lithographies workshop in Paris using 100% cotton 300 g/m² BFK Rives paper to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original 1947 Jazz book of which our portfolio is the facsimile.
Artwork entirely made in France: from the production of the paper in Arches in the Vosges department, to the traditional lithographic printing process, one drawing for each different color, one color per press run.
The lithograph was authorized, supervised and validated by the Matisse Estate. On the back of the lithograph feature the copyright of the Matisse Estate and the copyright of the original printer and publisher of this edition.
Delivered with a certificate of authenticity.
Le Cauchemar de l'Éléphant Blanc (The Nightmare of the White Elephant)
YEAR: 2007
DIMENSIONS: 58x79 cm (22.8'x31.1' in)
EDITION: 200
PAPER: BFK Rives
PRINTERS: Art-Lithographies studio, Paris
PUBLISHERS: Artvalue, Luxembourg
COA: Yes. Signed by the original printers & publishers
Henri Matisse’s Jazz (1947) is often considered the pinnacle of livres d’artiste, or artist’s books. Livres d’artiste are typically collaborations between artists and authors resulting in limited edition, fine-crafted, beautifully printed books with original graphic work. Jazz was produced as an edition of 250 books, with the pages folded in half.
To create these works, Matisse cut forms out of large sheets of paper previously painted with gouache by his assistants. The cut-outs were then assembled on the wall of Matisse’s studio, under his direction. Tériade, the book's publisher, who suggested that title, explained that the paper cuts embodied the same improvisational spirit as jazz and that music was an indispensable part of Matisse’s life. Thus, his paper cut collages resemble jazz.
The themes set forth in Jazz can be separated into four categories: the world of the French music hall and circus, mythology and legends, symbolism for the War between France and Germany, and memories from his life and travels. In Jazz, Matisse's subjects are more like verbs than nouns, however. They express the feeling of leaping, flying, swimming, falling. They cut straight to the viewer's experience rather than merely depicting someone else’s.
For an artist like Matisse, the ability to suggest the natural world in all its diversity through the simple act of cutting shapes from colored paper became the ultimate act of creation by his knowing where to start and when to stop.