A beautiful first edition exhibition catalogue devoted to Henri Matisse’s Florilège des Amours de Ronsard, published in 1997 by Contemporary and Modern Print Exhibitions in Laguna Niguel, California.
Titled A Celebration of French Renaissance Poetry, this richly illustrated catalogue accompanied the touring exhibition Henri Matisse: A Celebration of French Poets and Poetry, exploring one of Matisse’s most fascinating artist’s books.
Matisse began working on his interpretation of Pierre de Ronsard’s love poems in 1941. What began as a portfolio of lithographs eventually became the extraordinary Florilège des Amours de Ronsard, first published by Albert Skira in 1948.
The catalogue explores Matisse’s relationship with Ronsard’s poetry and features reproductions of the delicate lithographs created for the project, along with essays by Marcia Reed of the Getty Research Institute, Darrin Wilde, and Reilly Rhodes.
The expressive portraits, women, flowers, dancers, and flowing lines make this a particularly beautiful addition to a Matisse collection—and a wonderful example of how the book itself can become an art object.
Details
* Year: 1997
* Artist: Henri Matisse
* Poet: Pierre de Ronsard
* Title: Florilège des Amours de Ronsard
* Subtitle: A Celebration of French Renaissance Poetry
* Editor: Reilly Rhodes
* Language: English
* Pages: 93
* Format: Softcover
* Dimensions: approx. 9 × 12 in
Please see detail photos for condition.
