Matisse, Picasso and Greek Mythology
 |
Fig.1 19th Century Printmakers tools Parallel Lines (2001)
 |
|
Fig.2 Pasiphaë & the Minotaur, Apulian red-figure kylix
C4th B.C., Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
|
Kat Bayliss
1309176
December 2013
Introduction
This essay will be examining works, by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, inspired by Greek Myth and Legend.
 |
|
Fig.3 Picasso El Zurdo 1899 Etching
|
Pablo Picasso pushed the boundaries when producing his plates for printing and was very prolific. He tried, combined and used well the print processes available during the 20th century, often challenging and superseding his teachers(1); starting young, aged only 18, in 1899 with his first etching, El Zurdo, Fig.3. Even towards the end of his life, "...three weeks before his 87th birthday, he did three hundred and fifty-seven etchings, line engravings, drypoints, mezzotints and aquatints."(2)
Henri Matisse came to printing later in his life, aged 34, beginning with etching, "...around 1903" and trying out woodcuts and lithographs in 1906(3). Matisse's interest in printmaking was sporadic during his artistic career.(4) He excelled in lithography, "some of his lithographs are very highly finished with fine light effects”(5) Fig.4, although his early lithographs, as in Nu, were more rudimentary Fig.5(6) Though not as abundant as Picasso, Matisse did make over six hundred prints.(7)
Picasso worked over and into his Minoan engravings to create incredibly complex and detailed images with strong narratives, as in The Blind Minotaur Fig.6 and Minotauromachy Fig.7. He often used more than one engraving technique within a single print, and invented new ones. He produced copious Minotaur themed illustrations, "if all the paths I've taken we're marked on a map and joined up with a line, it might represent a Minotaur" Pablo Picasso(9). He had a “…dazzling ability to instantly seize onto signs and symbols of any figurative tradition, regardless of the time or place to which they belonged."(10)
The engravings by Matisse for Montherlant's Pasiphaë, Chant de Minos 1944 Figs.8,9,10 &11, a tale of vengeance and bestiality resulting in the birth of the Minotaur are much simpler, single colour, linocut prints. They are considered to be one of the artist’s masterpieces; indeed, one of this century’s greatest published painted books. It took Matisse ten months to complete over one hundred linocuts from which 250 copies were printed. Matisse placed a white border around the predominantly black prints as a counterbalance for the white pages of text, so they would be viewed as a double-page.
Matisse preferred the "...self-imposed limitation of black and white"(12) a divertissement from his colourful paintings and the fashion for the vibrant posters at the time and when he needed a shift in his inspiration.(13)
It is interesting to notice that both artists use stars in their depictions; the name of Pasiphë's bull-headed son being, "Asterios, (the starry one)."(14) It would be interesting to explore the symbolism of the star in the works of these two artists in greater detail.
The text in Jazz Fig.14, for which the illustration Icarus was created, was selected by him from his own notebooks kept over the years, which he chose to write in large longhand to, "be in a decorative relationship with the character of the of the color prints."(19) Jazz also showed the artist using bold colour throughout, whereas he chose to print monochrome in the early days. It is unlike any of the mythology inspired illustrations produced by Picasso, except for the presence of the stars, which Matisse and Picasso included in many of their folkloric pieces.
The cut-out illustrations were reproduced by stencil printing by Tériade, which Matisse was not happy with initially as it did not produce a perfect copy; but it was the only way to do it.(20)
Picasso's linocut, Head of a Faun 1962 Fig.15 bears a resemblance to the earlier Pasiphaë linocuts of Matisse, the only difference being the use of two colours rather than one. He also printed with layers of colours to refine the composition of his other linocuts, but still limited his palette to earthy tones.(22)
Faun Uncovering a Woman 1936 Fig.16 demonstrates Picasso’s mastery of lighting in his illustrations.(23) This is a gift he shares with Matisse, who also has a natural talent for illumination(24) Fig.4 La Culotte bayadere. Lighting is an important element in many of their images intended for printing and is used expertly and beautifully by them both.
Matisse and Picasso returned time and time again to the themes of myth and legend for creative stimulation. Approaching the chronicles of the Gods and Goddesses with dynamic exploration of the printed processes and publications available to them during their boundless oeuvres.
1 Waddington Graphics, Picasso The Vollard Suite the 347 Engravings Exhibition Catalogue (1984), pg.2
Barn, Stephen Parallel Lines, Printmakers, Painters and Photographers in Nineteenth Century France (2001) Yale University Press, Newhaven and London
 |
|
Fig.4 Matisse La Culotte bayadere 1925 2/50
Transfer lithograph on chine
|
 |
|
Fig.5 Matisse Nu 1906 30/50 Lithograph on chine
|
The Minotaur and His Mother
Both Matisse and Picasso produced many illustrations with the Minotaur and his mother, Pasiphaë as the subjects.
Picasso's Minotaur, it has been suggested by Michel Lieris, bears a likeness to the artist himself.(8) He frequently used the representation of man as a Minotaur or bull in his prints.
 |
|
Fig.6 Picasso The Blind Minotaur 1934 Aquatint treated as mezzotint
|
Picasso worked over and into his Minoan engravings to create incredibly complex and detailed images with strong narratives, as in The Blind Minotaur Fig.6 and Minotauromachy Fig.7. He often used more than one engraving technique within a single print, and invented new ones. He produced copious Minotaur themed illustrations, "if all the paths I've taken we're marked on a map and joined up with a line, it might represent a Minotaur" Pablo Picasso(9). He had a “…dazzling ability to instantly seize onto signs and symbols of any figurative tradition, regardless of the time or place to which they belonged."(10)
 |
|
Fig.7 Picasso Minotauromachy 1935 Etching: one of the 30 prints (not authenticated)
|
The engravings by Matisse for Montherlant's Pasiphaë, Chant de Minos 1944 Figs.8,9,10 &11, a tale of vengeance and bestiality resulting in the birth of the Minotaur are much simpler, single colour, linocut prints. They are considered to be one of the artist’s masterpieces; indeed, one of this century’s greatest published painted books. It took Matisse ten months to complete over one hundred linocuts from which 250 copies were printed. Matisse placed a white border around the predominantly black prints as a counterbalance for the white pages of text, so they would be viewed as a double-page.
Pasiphaë herself suffered with an insomnia brought about by her forbidden passion, this is interesting considering that Matisse himself was an insomniac and worked upon these very plates during his sleepless nights.(11)
 |
||
|
Fig. 8 Matisse Pasiphaë (Cover) 1944 Linocut
|
 |
|
Fig. 10 Matisse Pasiphaë 1944 Linocut
|
Matisse preferred the "...self-imposed limitation of black and white"(12) a divertissement from his colourful paintings and the fashion for the vibrant posters at the time and when he needed a shift in his inspiration.(13)
 |
|
Fig. 11 Matisse Pasiphaë 1944 Linocut
|
It is interesting to notice that both artists use stars in their depictions; the name of Pasiphë's bull-headed son being, "Asterios, (the starry one)."(14) It would be interesting to explore the symbolism of the star in the works of these two artists in greater detail.
Le Minotaure was a Surrealist Journal, published by Albert Skira, which ran from 1933-1939. There were 13 issues in all and the works of both Matisse and Picasso were published regularly within them.(15) "It was exceptionally well produced..."(16) and included images and articles from many significant artists of the time, such as Max Ernst, Man Ray, Salvador Dali, Wolfgang Paalen, André Breton, Yves Tanguy, René Magritte, Kurt Seligmann, Raoul Ubac and Frida Kahlo. The much earlier works of Albrecht Dürer, Piero Di Cosimo and Jean Duvet, amongst others, were also included in written features with reproduced images of relevant works.(17)
Icarus
 |
|
Fig. 12 Matisse Icarus 1947 Stencil print
|
Icarus Fig.12 first published in the Verve magazine No.13 and featured on the cover of Matisse's full colour book, Jazz, published in 1947, is a stencil print in black and blue with yellow stars and features a red heart. It is very different to his earlier printmaking. It was believed this was mainly due to his old age and inability to hold a pen or paintbrush Fig.13, "...whereas they are...the end product of an entire life of work and the flowering of an enormous, sincere, and difficult effort"(18)
 |
|
Fig. 13 Matisse at work in his Nice studio 1952
|
The text in Jazz Fig.14, for which the illustration Icarus was created, was selected by him from his own notebooks kept over the years, which he chose to write in large longhand to, "be in a decorative relationship with the character of the of the color prints."(19) Jazz also showed the artist using bold colour throughout, whereas he chose to print monochrome in the early days. It is unlike any of the mythology inspired illustrations produced by Picasso, except for the presence of the stars, which Matisse and Picasso included in many of their folkloric pieces.
 |
|
Fig.14 Matisse Jazz Text Sample 1944 handwritten
|
The cut-out illustrations were reproduced by stencil printing by Tériade, which Matisse was not happy with initially as it did not produce a perfect copy; but it was the only way to do it.(20)
The guiding force of the image is the red heart, which denotes the radiance of, "...the illumination of central creative dilemmas..."(21) As a painter and sculptor, he felt that his cut outs had a rhythm of "arabesque and colour", and he had learned that Ingres, Delacroix, Gaugin and Van Gogh had worked in the same fashion.
|
Faun
 |
|
Fig.15 Picasso Head of a Faun 1962 Linocut
|
Picasso's linocut, Head of a Faun 1962 Fig.15 bears a resemblance to the earlier Pasiphaë linocuts of Matisse, the only difference being the use of two colours rather than one. He also printed with layers of colours to refine the composition of his other linocuts, but still limited his palette to earthy tones.(22)
 |
|
Fig. 16 Picasso Faun Uncovering a Woman 1936 Aquatint and line engraving
|
Faun Uncovering a Woman 1936 Fig.16 demonstrates Picasso’s mastery of lighting in his illustrations.(23) This is a gift he shares with Matisse, who also has a natural talent for illumination(24) Fig.4 La Culotte bayadere. Lighting is an important element in many of their images intended for printing and is used expertly and beautifully by them both.
Conclusion
Matisse and Picasso returned time and time again to the themes of myth and legend for creative stimulation. Approaching the chronicles of the Gods and Goddesses with dynamic exploration of the printed processes and publications available to them during their boundless oeuvres.
Their working practices were quite different though: Matisse drawing over and over before he would settle on his final draft and Picasso believing that his finest work was created out of spontaneity.(25)
Janie Cohen said that "[Picasso was]...the most innovative graphic artist of the twentieth century."(26)
"To tell the truth, M. Matisse is an innovator, but he renovates rather than innovates", Apollinaire 1909(27).
References
1 Waddington Graphics, Picasso The Vollard Suite the 347 Engravings Exhibition Catalogue (1984), pg.2
2 Passon, Roger, (1970) pg.172
3 Passon, Roger, (1970) pg.167
4 Lambert, Susan, (1981) pg.2
5 Passon, Roger, (1970) pg.167
6 Lambert, Susan, (1981) pg.4
7 Passeron, Roger, (1970) pg.52
8 Fryberger, Betsy G., (1998) pg.13
9 Cohen, Janie, (1995) pg.78
10 Carandente, Giovanni, (1998) pg.31
11 Museum of Ancient and Modern Art Website (2010)
12 Lambert, Susan, (1981) pg.2
13 Lambert, Susan, (1981) pg.2
15 Skira, Albert, (1936-1939) Volume Three Nos. 9-13
16 Lenman, Robin, (2006) online Oxford Reference
17 Skira, Albert, (1936-1939) Volume Three Nos. 9-13
18 Neret, Gilles (1994) pg.7
19 Matisse, Henri (1947) pg.XV
20 Neret, Gilles (1994) pg.11
21 Castleman, Riva (1983) pg.X
22 Fryberger, Betsy G. (1999)
23 Passon, Roger, (1970) pg.54
24 Passon, Roger, (1970) pg. 92 & 94
25 Museum of Ancient and Modern Art Website (2010)
26 Cohen, Janie, (1995) pg.7
27 Lambert, Susan, (1981) pg.2
Bibliography
Barn, Stephen Parallel Lines, Printmakers, Painters and Photographers in Nineteenth Century France (2001) Yale University Press, Newhaven and London
Chevalier, Victor Catalogue for the exhibition “Ninety prints by Henri Matisse” (1982) Geneva: Galerie Patrick Cramer
Clair, Jean The Italian Journey 1917-1924 (1998) Thames and Hudson
Cohen, Janie Picasso Inside the Image, prints from the Ludwig Museum, Cologne
Fryberger, Betsy G. Picasso Graphic Magician (1999) Philip Wilson Publishers
Lambert, Susan Matisse Lithographs (1981) Victoria & Albert Museum
Matisse, Henri Jazz (1985) George Braziller, Inc.
Introduction: Castleman, Riva
Translation: Hawkes, Sophie
Introduction: Castleman, Riva
Translation: Hawkes, Sophie
Néret, Gilles Henri Matisse Cut-outs (1994) Benedikt Tashen
Passeron, Roger French Prints of the 20th Century (1970) London: Pall Mall Press
Skira, Albert Minotaure Volume Three Nos. 9-13 (1936-39) Skira Rizozoli Publications, Inc.
Exhibition Catalogue: Waddington Galleries Picasso The Vollard Suite The 347 Engravings (1984)Uxbridge: Hillingdon Press
Exhibition Catalogue: The Tate Gallery, London Late Picasso (1998) Tate Gallery Publications
www.theoi.com Pasiphae: Source: Smith, William Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1853) London: Murray
www.mama.org Museum of Ancient and Modern Art