Henri Matisse chez Bernheim-Jeune, 2 volumes (Book)

This post is also available in: Français (French)

Henri Matisse chez Bernheim-Jeune, les 2 volumes (Book) Volume I is new in blister pack, Volume II is like new. (slight crease on the jacket). 1995. French texts.

Josse and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune were the first to discover, appreciate and promote the work of Henri Matisse. They had Henri Matisse under contract from 1909 to 1926. After 1926, they continued to maintain privileged relations with this artist, acquiring works directly from him, exhibiting him and photographing a large part of his paintings and drawings even when they did not buy them.

This work, which includes two inseparable volumes, reproduces in particular the contracts between Henri Matisse and MM. Bernheim-Jeune, some letters, invitation cards, catalogues or excerpts from catalogues of the 67 personal or group exhibitions featuring works by Henri Matisse at Bernheim-Jeune, the first exhibition having taken place in 1907. This book also includes 798 works listed with their references at Bernheim-Jeune. Most of these photographs come from glass plates dating from the creation of the work; which explains why this book only includes 8 reproductions of colour paintings. A large part of the works are reproduced in large format. Volume I and Volume II each include more than 700 pages.

As he travelled, Matisse built up a collection of objects, furniture and fabrics that he integrated into his works: “The object is an actor: a good actor can play in ten different rooms, an object can play a different role in ten different paintings.” This blending of sources, enriched over the course of his travels, nourished his plastic reflection and the iconography of his works. Addressing the notions of decoration, Matisse moved away from any exactitude – which he asserted was not the truth – and sought the synthesis of form as accurately as possible to his emotion. In 1916, Matisse produced two major works of very large dimensions: Les Marocains and Femmes à la Rivière and spent the war years between Issy-Les-Moulineaux and Paris.

The results of his research made him dizzy and pushed him to go to Nice at the end of October 1917 to settle there permanently at the beginning of the 1920s. Leaving the studio in Issy-les-Moulineaux, he invented a universe in Nice dedicated to what would become his obsession for about ten years: the Odalisques where the models lent themselves to the game of accessorizing. From his native region, Matisse remembers the flamboyant fabrics to create interiors with an abundance of materials and patterns. Intoxicated by the infinite variations of his subject, he will multiply the interior scenes, painting, drawing, sculpting young women naked or whom he dresses in clothes brought back from Morocco. In 1920, he creates for Diaghilev the sets and costumes of the ballet Le Chant du rossignol, the first decorative experiment outside the flat surface of the painting.

Feel free to check out the additional photos at the top left, thank you!

If you prefer to pay in EUR, you must click on the orange “French” option under the main photo above, which will redirect you to the text in French and the payment in €.