Busacca Gallery

Artist: Henri Matisse Title: Lagoon, 1944 Medium: Pochoir (stencil) print after a paper cut-out Published: 1947 Plate: XVIII, Lagoon, from the illustrated book Jazz Edition: Jazz was produced in an edition of 250 books, with pages originally folded in half Signature: Unsigned, as issued Size: Approximately 23 1/2 x 15 1/3 inches (measured edge to edge) This color pochoir print is based on an original paper cut-out by Henri Matisse and was produced using the traditional pochoir process, with a separate drawing and press run for each color. The result is a richly layered image that preserves the immediacy and vibrancy of Matisse’s original design. Henri Matisse’s Jazz (1947) is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the livre d’artiste, or artist’s book. These finely crafted volumes typically involve close collaboration between artists and authors and are produced in limited editions with original graphic works. In the case of Jazz, Matisse served as both author and illustrator. To create the images, Matisse directed his assistants to paint large sheets of paper with gouache, from which he cut shapes that were then arranged on the walls of his studio under his supervision. The book’s publisher, Tériade—who also suggested the title—explained that the cut-outs embodied the same improvisational spirit as jazz music, which played an essential role in Matisse’s life. In this sense, the paper cut collages function visually much like jazz does musically. The themes explored in Jazz can be grouped into four broad categories: the world of the French music hall and circus; mythology and legend; symbolic responses to the war between France and Germany; and memories drawn from Matisse’s life and travels. Notably, the subjects in Jazz function more like verbs than nouns, conveying sensations of leaping, flying, swimming, and falling. Rather than depicting distant figures, these images cut directly into the viewer’s own experience. For Matisse, the ability to evoke the natural world in all its diversity through the simple act of cutting shapes from colored paper became the ultimate creative act—one defined by an intuitive understanding of where to begin and, crucially, when to stop.

Jazz by Henri Matisse is a portfolio of twenty color pochoir stencils accompanied by more than seventy pages of calligraphic writing. This work marked a pivotal moment in Matisse’s transition from oil painting to the cut-out collages that would dominate the final decade of his life. To create these works, Matisse directed his assistants to paint large sheets of paper with gouache, from which he cut shapes that were then arranged on the walls of his studio under his supervision. Jazz was published by Tériade in 1947 in an edition of 250. The title evokes a musical structure of rhythm and repetition, reflected in the handwritten text, which is punctuated by the explosive improvisation of the color plates. Matisse’s subjects are drawn largely from the circus, mythology, and memories of his travels. They appear as either isolated figures or paired forms, suggesting a dialogue between artist and model. Despite their vivid colors and folkloric motifs, few of the plates are truly cheerful; several are among Matisse’s most ominous images. The writing in Jazz was especially important to Matisse. Although the images were mostly completed by 1944, he continued refining the text until shortly before the book’s publication in September 1947. While the handwriting gives an impression of spontaneity, it was carefully rewritten four or five times until Matisse was satisfied with both the expression and scale of the letters. Matisse stated that the manuscript pages served merely as a visual accompaniment to the plates, “their role [was] thus purely spectacular.” Yet, despite this claim, the text and images are subtly and deliberately interconnected, sharing underlying themes of art and artifice. Jazz represents one of Matisse’s most revealing statements about his artistic development and the act of creation—a process he believed arose from the synthesis of instinct and intellect guided by discipline. Though the cut-outs approach the liberated abstraction of music, Matisse never strays far from the sense of an objective world. Painter and art historian Sir Lawrence Gowing described the cut-outs as “cutting into a primordial substance, the basic chromatic substance of painting… With each stroke, the cutting revealed the character both of the material, the pristine substance of color, and also of an image, a subject.” In Jazz, Matisse’s subjects function more like verbs than nouns, expressing the sensations of leaping, flying, swimming, or falling. They reach directly to the viewer’s experience, rather than merely depicting another’s. Plates in Jazz: I. The Clown II. The Circus III. Monsieur Loyal IV. The Nightmare of the White Elephant V. The Horse, the Rider, and the Clown VI. The Wolf VII. The Heart VIII. Icarus IX. Forms X. Pierrot’s Funeral XI. The Codomas XII. The Swimmer in the Tank XIII. The Sword Swallower XIV. The Cowboy XV. The Knife Thrower XVI. Destiny XVII. Lagoon I XVIII. Lagoon II XIX. Lagoon III XX. Toboggan

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_(Henri_Matisse)

Henri Matisse’s Jazz is a limited–edition art book containing prints of colorful cut–paper collages, accompanied by the artist's written thoughts. It was first issued on September 30, 1947, by art publisher Tériade. The portfolio, characterized by vibrant colors, poetic texts, and circus and theater themes, marks Matisse's transition to a new form of medium. Diagnosed with abdominal cancer in 1941, Matisse underwent surgery that left him chair– and bedbound. Limited in mobility, he could no longer paint or sculpt. Instead, he cut forms from colored paper that he arranged as collages, and decoupage which became known as the “cut–outs”. That same year, at the age of 74, Matisse began Jazz. His assistants helped prepare the collages for printing, using a stencil process known as pochoir in French. He worked on the series for two years, utilizing this new method that linked drawing and color—two important elements in Matisse's work. The designs were initially intended as covers for Verve, a French art magazine published by Tériade. In 1947, Tériade issued the compositions in an artist's portfolio. The book included 20 color prints, each about 16 by 26 inches (41 by 66 cm), as well as Matisse's handwritten notes expressing his thoughts throughout the process. Tériade gave it the title Jazz, which Matisse liked because it suggested a connection between art and musical improvisation. Despite the low number of books printed, Jazz was well received. The circus, the title originally suggested for the book, provided inspiration for the majority of the motifs concerning performing artists and balancing acts. “These images, with their lively and violent tones, derive from crystallizations of memories of circuses, folktales, and voyages,” Matisse explains in the accompanying text. The figure of the circus artist, usually depicted alone, is often seen as a metaphor for the artist himself. The first prints illustrating the circus do not seem to have an immediate connection to the succeeding works. However, these compositions are viewed as metaphors of life. The overall themes in Jazz derive from biographical elements, such as Matisse's recollection of his travels to Tahiti in the three "Lagoon" sheets (XVII–XIX), as well as broader aspects including love (V, VI), death (X), and fate (XVI).