The two books that most captured my attention were Jazz by Henri Matisse and A Toute Epreuve by Paul Eluard. Both books harness the colorful and youthful art work of famous artists to create playful works of art. The intensely vivid presentations are a testament to the new and exciting ideals of the Livre D’Artiste movement in Europe.
Eluard’s A Toute Epreuve effortlessly utilizes free-form and open field of the book format. Miro’s fantastic illustrations remind me of a child’s drawing with the use of primary colors and abstract shapes. I also appreciate how he adds different textures with woodcuts to reproduce a wood grain pattern on the page. The combination between Miro’s prints and woodcuts inserts an immediate and organic motif to the book. In seeming contrast between the youthful illustrations, A Toute Epreuve’s text is in black type font, simplistic, and in block format. However the natural aesthetic of the illustrations work in tandem with the text to utilize space and movement in order to support the context of the page, ultimately creating a very enjoyable and vivid read.
Henri Matisse’s book Jazz separates the text from the illustrations but produces a full visual spread that exudes movement and energy. Matisse’s control of both the artistic and textual image probably factors into the completeness of this book. The pochoir technique lends itself to the dense and bold colors which are appropriate for the kind of book. The bright collage on each page mirrors the text of the book. Matisse chose to use his own handwriting to produce the text, filling the entire page with his large, flowing cursive. The side-by-side positioning of the text and image facilitates an intriguing visual rhythm between the illustrations which flows into the text.
Both these books embody the successful collaboration between artist and publisher. Both Jazz and A Toute Epreuve incorporate the ingenious talent of their artists with the vision of the publisher to successfully conceive a thoroughly engaging and stimulating type of book.