Henri Matisse famously stated: “I do not distinguish between the construction of a book and that of a painting and I always proceed from the simple to the complex.”

One must then ask how many artists are allowed to freely merge both forms, and what makes such innovation possible?

Jazz (1947)

First, let us start with Matisse’s own work. A classic example of the livre d’artiste genre, Jazz immediately draws the viewer in with its use of color and pages upon pages of large, boldened cursive text. In Jazz, image and text actively interact with one another. Text and image are paired off side-by-side and serve complementary functions; the boldness of the writing echos the intensity and brightness presented by Matisse’s images. These effects are both achieved consciously by Matisse, Jazz employs the pochoir stencil technique, the results of which create bright and colorful images with almost three-dimensional qualities. Similarly, the boldness of the text is created by the choice of paper and ink. The playful and lively sentiment behind Jazz is fully realized by the Matisse’s artistic decisions but, one must question how in control was Matisse in the production of the book and to what end?

Within the livre d’artiste genre a variety of different people may be involved in any one production. While publishers such as Iliazd demanded complete control over their works others such as Teriade (who worked with Matisse) offered artists great creative freedom and mostly focused on ensuring the high quality of materials. As the reading Iliazd and The Illustrated Book tells us:

“Artists were likewise free to propose texts to illustrate and the roster of authors published by Teriade affirms the diversity of their choices, which ranged from contemporary artist’ writings to the literature of classical Greece. The freedom Teriade accorded his artists is also reflected in their varying interpretations of the role of illustrator. Matisse, for example, executed the compositions for Jazz (published 1947) before the existence of his accompanying text” (Isselbacher 15)

One might argue that Jazz would not be the book it is today (or as integral to the livre d’artiste genre) were in not for the freedom Matisse was given by Teriade. I would certainly agree with this statement, citing the crucial artistic and aesthetic decisions of Matisse not only with regard to image but with regard to text to be essential in producing the overall experimental nature of the book. It was Matisse’s mindset coupled with Teriade’s laissez-faire philosophy which allowed Jazz to be fully realized.