Soupir, plate five from Poesies de Mallarmé

Matisse’s first livre d’artiste (artist’s book), Poems of Stéphane Mallarmé (Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé) was the second publication produced by Albert Skira. The first was Pablo Picasso’s illustrations for Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Les Métamorphoses), published the year before. Both series use the simple power of the etched line to suggest volume and movement. In the case of Matisse, he avoided heavy shading so as not to detract from the ethereality of Mallarmé’s poetry. While inspired by the poems, Matisse’s prints stand alone as works of art and call upon some of his most iconic imagery: flowers, nudes, and portraits.