Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

When Henri Matisse was asked by the publisher Albert Skira to create twenty-nine images for a limited-edition book of Stéphane Mallarmé's poetry, the idea was "to create an 'equivalent' not only to the typography of the page but to its poetry too." As both poet and artist shared an interest in the expressive possibilities of classical mythology, the match proved ideal.

Matisse rendered his prints in a simple etched line that recalled the pure linear style of Greek vase painting. He produced dozens of preparatory drawings carefully composed for the pages (sometimes reserving space for the text), and made numerous revisions. Although the published version was printed in an edition of 145 copies, there are far fewer copies of his "refused" trial proofs.