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Painting:Jazz
(1947)
Painter:
Henri
Matisse |
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About The Artist
- Henri Matisse (December 31,
1869 - November 3, 1954) |
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Henri Matisse was
a French artist. His works are noted
for their brilliant color and fluid
and original draughtsmanship. Henri
Matisse is one of the best-known artists
of the 20th century. |
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About
The Painting - Jazz |
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Hailed
as the mainstay of the French classical
style of painting, Jazz is one of
Matisse's best known cut outs and
works of art. |
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In
1947, Matisse was suffering from poor
health due to old age. He was in his
seventies, when he started to work
on Jazz. Unable to draw or paint easily,
he started using succors to create
forms cut out from brightly colored
poster (painted with gouache) papers.
He would then arrange the cut out
on another sheet of gouache-painted
paper. These assemblages were then
readied for printing by his assistants
and a limited edition book was created.
Publishing your own limited edition
book was a popular practice for noted
artists (Picasso, Dufy) at that time. |
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As
Matisse started working on Jazz he
used to write notes to himself with
the help of a large fluid brush, capturing
his thoughts as he used his imagination
to create. The visual aesthetic of
these words pleased the artist and
he suggested, to the publisher, that
the painted words be used in juxtaposition
with the images. |
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Thus
was born a 100 page book of cut outs
called Jazz. The underlying theme
of prints in Jazz has been taken from
circus or theatre by Matisse. The
original copies of Jazz were not bound,
but arranged to create binders. Each
page of Jazz is 24"X12" and folded
in the center. The first edition of
Jazz was published on 30 September,
1947 and had 250 sets of printed cut
out forms; each copy was sold for
$120. |
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As
of today, Jazz is one of the most
successful books published by any
20th century artist! Many of the prints
from Jazz have gained iconic status
and have been reproduced umpteen times
in form of posters. Some of the most
popular images are - Icarus, The Sword
Swallower, The Swimming Pool, The
Funeral of Pierrot, and Toboggan. |
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