Lot Essay
Having seen Matisse's illustrations for a 1932 volume of Stephane
Mallarmé's poetry, the Limited Editions Club of New York approached the artist in the summer of 1933 to provide prints for an edition of Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prevost. This perennially popular but dated 19th century romance did not appeal to Matisse, and it was then proposed that he illustrate a new edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, which since its initial publication in 1922 had gathered widespread praise and notoriety as the book which stood at the very frontier of the modern novel.
Although Matisse had not read Ulysses, he was fascinated by
what he had been told about the novel's parallels with Homer's
epic poem. He signed a contract with the Limited Editions Club
in March, 1934, and embarked upon a series of drawings in preparation
for six soft-ground etchings which were to be included in the
edition. The present drawing is the first and most elaborate study
for the etching used to illustrate the Calypso episode. This chapter corresponds to Book Five in Homer's Odyssey, in which Ulysses is
shipwrecked and cast ashore on the island of the sea-nymph Calypso,
who does not allow him to depart until seven years later. In Joyce's
novel the protagonist Leopold Bloom is making breakfast while his wife Molly remains in bed. There is a painting of sea-nymphs in the bedroom, which inspires Bloom to recall a popular song:
All dimpled cheeks and curls,
Your head it simply swirls.
Those girls, those girls
Those lovely seaside girls.
(J. Joyce, op. cit., p. 31)
For Matisse the wrestling female figures represented the discord within Ulysses's home. John Elderfield noted that an underlying theme in Matisse's illustrations for Ulysses was "constraint versus freedom" (op. cit.); the theme of confrontation is a recurrent one during the next decade. The counterpoint of the two figures stems directly from the central lunette of La Danse, the mural which Matisse painted for the Barnes Foundation and completed in 1933.
While working on the Ulysees illustrations, Matisse relied mainly on his reading of Homer rather than of Joyce's novel. The artist was in close contact with a friend of the author, to make sure that his interpretations were consistent with Joyce's intentions. Matisse later had a telephone conversation with Joyce, who was unable to leave Geneva because of his ailing daughter, and the author approved of the artist's approach.
The Matisse Ulysses was printed on the Club's presses in Westport, Connecticut in 1935 in an edition of 1500 copies, each signed and numbered by the artist. At the request of the artist, reproductions of each of the preparatory studies were bound into the book, enabling the reader to trace the evolution of each illustration from its initial conception to the final print.
Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this drawing, which is recorded as no. AB 43 in the Henri Matisse archives.
This drawing has been requested for the Matisse-Picasso exhibiton to be held at the Kimbell Art Museum in fort Worth, Texas, February-May, 1999.
Mallarmé's poetry, the Limited Editions Club of New York approached the artist in the summer of 1933 to provide prints for an edition of Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prevost. This perennially popular but dated 19th century romance did not appeal to Matisse, and it was then proposed that he illustrate a new edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, which since its initial publication in 1922 had gathered widespread praise and notoriety as the book which stood at the very frontier of the modern novel.
Although Matisse had not read Ulysses, he was fascinated by
what he had been told about the novel's parallels with Homer's
epic poem. He signed a contract with the Limited Editions Club
in March, 1934, and embarked upon a series of drawings in preparation
for six soft-ground etchings which were to be included in the
edition. The present drawing is the first and most elaborate study
for the etching used to illustrate the Calypso episode. This chapter corresponds to Book Five in Homer's Odyssey, in which Ulysses is
shipwrecked and cast ashore on the island of the sea-nymph Calypso,
who does not allow him to depart until seven years later. In Joyce's
novel the protagonist Leopold Bloom is making breakfast while his wife Molly remains in bed. There is a painting of sea-nymphs in the bedroom, which inspires Bloom to recall a popular song:
All dimpled cheeks and curls,
Your head it simply swirls.
Those girls, those girls
Those lovely seaside girls.
(J. Joyce, op. cit., p. 31)
For Matisse the wrestling female figures represented the discord within Ulysses's home. John Elderfield noted that an underlying theme in Matisse's illustrations for Ulysses was "constraint versus freedom" (op. cit.); the theme of confrontation is a recurrent one during the next decade. The counterpoint of the two figures stems directly from the central lunette of La Danse, the mural which Matisse painted for the Barnes Foundation and completed in 1933.
While working on the Ulysees illustrations, Matisse relied mainly on his reading of Homer rather than of Joyce's novel. The artist was in close contact with a friend of the author, to make sure that his interpretations were consistent with Joyce's intentions. Matisse later had a telephone conversation with Joyce, who was unable to leave Geneva because of his ailing daughter, and the author approved of the artist's approach.
The Matisse Ulysses was printed on the Club's presses in Westport, Connecticut in 1935 in an edition of 1500 copies, each signed and numbered by the artist. At the request of the artist, reproductions of each of the preparatory studies were bound into the book, enabling the reader to trace the evolution of each illustration from its initial conception to the final print.
Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this drawing, which is recorded as no. AB 43 in the Henri Matisse archives.
This drawing has been requested for the Matisse-Picasso exhibiton to be held at the Kimbell Art Museum in fort Worth, Texas, February-May, 1999.