{"id":5705,"date":"2014-04-05T10:26:17","date_gmt":"2014-04-05T08:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/?p=5705"},"modified":"2020-11-18T17:31:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T16:31:33","slug":"henri-matisse-form-sex-and-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/04\/05\/henri-matisse-form-sex-and-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Henri Matisse: form, sex and information"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Springtime is coming, and Henri Matisse along with her, thanks to a couple of interesting exhibitions. One will take place at the Tate Modern in London from 13 April and will showcase the complex galaxy of his cut-offs. The other is at Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, Italy, until 15 June. Isabelle Monod Fontaine, former deputy director of the Centre Pompidou and expert in the art of Matisse, curated this latter. She has gathered together paintings, sculptures and drawings, thereby demonstrating how the theme of the figure, especially the female figure, has been at the core of the artist&#8217;s entire career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this regards, we would like to put the focus on one of Matisse\u2019s source of inspiration, St\u00e9phane Mallarm\u00e9, to whom he devotes a series of etchings in 1932. In this case the relationship between pictures and poetry lies in Matisse&#8217;s artworks painted after 1930. For example, it is known that the great painting &#8220;Nymph in the forest vegetation&#8221; (1935-42\/43, Nice, Mus\u00e9e Matisse) originates from the poem entitled &#8220;The Afternoon of a Faun&#8221;. The interest in Mallarm\u00e9 also marks a specific moment in the artist&#8217;s career. As many critics have noted, reading Mallarm\u00e9 makes him &#8220;proceeding by subtraction, using a method that takes him to the limits of abstraction.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"544\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/4.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cA Pink Nude Seated \u201d, Henri Matisse (1935, Paris, Centre Pompidou)\" class=\"wp-image-5738\"\/><figcaption>\u201cA Pink Nude Seated \u201d, Henri Matisse (1935, Paris, Centre Pompidou)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The &#8220;Sitting pink nude&#8221; (1935, Paris, Centre Pompidou) is certainly a good example of this passage. Matisse works to this canvas tirelessly for eight months, also photographing the stages of his research. He starts from a realistic image and arrives to a pure simplification. The model&#8217;s face becomes an hollow oval and his body turns into a geometric form. In order to create tension between the different elements of the composition, he decides to leave large areas of the canvas without any painting. It is indeed the space where the Mallarm\u00e9 poetry deeply echoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>LE FAVNE<\/em><\/p><p><em>Ces nymphes, je les veux perp\u00e9tuer.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Si clair,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Leur incarnat l\u00e9ger, qu\u2019il voltige dans l\u2019air<\/em><\/p><p><em>Assoupi de sommeils touffus.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Aimai-je un r\u00eave?<\/em><\/p><p><em>Mon doute, amas de nuit ancienne, s\u2019ach\u00e8ve<\/em><\/p><p><em>En maint rameau subtil, qui, demeur\u00e9 les vrais<\/em><\/p><p><em>Bois m\u00eames, prouve, h\u00e9las ! que bien seul je m\u2019offrais<\/em><\/p><p><em>Pour triomphe la faute id\u00e9ale de roses \u2014<\/em><\/p><p><em>R\u00e9fl\u00e9chissons\u2026<\/em><\/p><p><em>ou si les femmes dont tu gloses<\/em><\/p><p><em>Figurent un souhait de tes sens fabuleux!<\/em><\/p><p><em>Faune, l\u2019illusion s\u2019\u00e9chappe des yeux bleus<\/em><\/p><p><em>Et froids, comme une source en pleurs, de la plus chaste:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Mais, l\u2019autre tout soupirs, dis-tu qu\u2019elle contraste<\/em><\/p><p><em>Comme brise du jour chaude dans ta toison?<\/em><\/p><p><em>Que non ! par l\u2019immobile et lasse pamoison<\/em><\/p><p><em>Suffoquant de chaleurs le matin frais s\u2019il lutte,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Ne murmure point d\u2019eau que ne verse ma fl\u00fbte<\/em><\/p><p><em>Au bosquet arros\u00e9 d\u2019accords ; et le seul vent<\/em><\/p><p><em>Hors des deux tuyaux prompt \u00e0 s\u2019exhaler avant<\/em><\/p><p><em>Qu\u2019il disperse le son dans une pluie aride,<\/em><\/p><p><em>C\u2019est, \u00e0 l\u2019horizon pas remu\u00e9 d\u2019une ride,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Le visible et serein souffle artificiel<\/em><\/p><p><em>De l\u2019inspiration, qui regagne le ciel.<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00d4 bords siciliens d\u2019un calme mar\u00e9cage<\/em><\/p><p><em>Qu\u2019\u00e0 l\u2019envi des soleils ma vanit\u00e9 saccage,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Tacites sous les fleurs d\u2019\u00e9tincelles, CONTEZ<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Que je coupais ici les creux roseaux dompt\u00e9s<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Par le talent ; quand, sur l\u2019or glauque de lointaines<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Verdures d\u00e9diant leur vigne \u00e0 des fontaines,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Ondoie une blancheur animale au repos :<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Et qu\u2019au pr\u00e9lude lent o\u00f9 naissent les pipeaux,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Ce vol de cygnes, non ! de na\u00efades se sauve<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Ou plonge\u2026<\/em><\/p><p><em>Inerte, tout br\u00fble dans l\u2019heure fauve<\/em><\/p><p><em>Sans marquer par quel art ensemble d\u00e9tala<\/em><\/p><p><em>Trop d\u2019hymen souhait\u00e9 de qui cherche le la:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Alors m\u2019\u00e9veillerais-je \u00e0 la ferveur premi\u00e8re,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Droit et seul, sous un flot antique de lumi\u00e8re,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Lys ! et l\u2019un de vous tous pour l\u2019ing\u00e9nuit\u00e9.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Autre que ce doux rien par leur l\u00e8vre \u00e9bruit\u00e9,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Le baiser, qui tout bas des perfides assure,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Mon sein, vierge de preuve, atteste une morsure<\/em><\/p><p><em>Myst\u00e9rieuse, due \u00e0 quelque auguste dent;<\/em><\/p><p><em>Mais, bast! arcane tel \u00e9lut pour confident<\/em><\/p><p><em>Le jonc vaste et jumeau dont sous l\u2019azur on joue:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Qui, d\u00e9tournant \u00e0 soi le trouble de la joue,<\/em><\/p><p><em>R\u00eave, en un long solo, que nous amusions<\/em><\/p><p><em>La beaut\u00e9 d\u2019alentour par des confusions<\/em><\/p><p><em>Fausses entre elle-m\u00eame et notre chant cr\u00e9dule;<\/em><\/p><p><em>Et de faire aussi haut que l\u2019amour se module<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00c9vanouir du songe ordinaire de dos<\/em><\/p><p><em>Ou de flanc pur suivis avec mes regards clos,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Une sonore, vaine et monotone ligne.<\/em><\/p><p><em>T\u00e2che donc, instrument des fuites, \u00f4 maligne<\/em><\/p><p><em>Syrinx, de refleurir aux lacs o\u00f9 tu m\u2019attends!<\/em><\/p><p><em>Moi, de ma rumeur fier, je vais parler longtemps<\/em><\/p><p><em>Des d\u00e9esses ; et, par d\u2019idol\u00e2tres peintures,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00c0 leur ombre enlever encore des ceintures:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Ainsi, quand des raisins j\u2019ai suc\u00e9 la clart\u00e9,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Pour bannir un regret par ma feinte \u00e9cart\u00e9,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Rieur, j\u2019\u00e9l\u00e8ve au ciel d\u2019\u00e9t\u00e9 la grappe vide<\/em><\/p><p><em>Et, soufflant dans ses peaux lumineuses, avide<\/em><\/p><p><em>D\u2019ivresse, jusqu\u2019au soir je regarde au travers.<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00d4 nymphes, regonflons des souvenirs divers.<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Mon \u0153il, trouant les joncs, dardait chaque encolure<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Immortelle, qui noie en l\u2019onde sa br\u00fblure<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Avec un cri de rage au ciel de la for\u00eat;<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Et le splendide bain de cheveux dispara\u00eet<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Dans les clart\u00e9s et les frissons, \u00f4 pierreries!<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb J\u2019accours ; quand, \u00e0 mes pieds, s\u2019entrejoignent (meurtries<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb De la langueur go\u00fbt\u00e9e \u00e0 ce mal d\u2019\u00eatre deux)<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Des dormeuses parmi leurs seuls bras hazardeux:<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Je les ravis, sans les d\u00e9senlacer, et vole<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb \u00c0 ce massif, ha\u00ef par l\u2019ombrage frivole,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb De roses tarissant tout parfum au soleil,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb O\u00f9 notre \u00e9bat au jour consum\u00e9 soit pareil.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Je t\u2019adore, courroux des vierges, \u00f4 d\u00e9lice<\/em><\/p><p><em>Farouche du sacr\u00e9 fardeau nu qui se glisse<\/em><\/p><p><em>Pour fuir ma l\u00e8vre en feu buvant, comme un \u00e9clair<\/em><\/p><p><em>Tressaille! la frayeur secr\u00e8te de la chair:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Des pieds de l\u2019inhumaine au c\u0153ur de la timide<\/em><\/p><p><em>Que d\u00e9laisse \u00e0 la fois une innocence, humide<\/em><\/p><p><em>De larmes folles ou de moins tristes vapeurs.<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Mon crime, c\u2019est d\u2019avoir, gai de vaincre ces peurs<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Tra\u00eetresses, divis\u00e9 la touffe \u00e9chevel\u00e9e<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb De baisers que les dieux gardaient si bien m\u00eal\u00e9e;<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Car, \u00e0 peine j\u2019allais cacher un rire ardent<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Sous les replis heureux d\u2019une seule (gardant<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Par un doigt simple, afin que sa candeur de plume<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Se teign\u00eet \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9moi de sa s\u0153ur qui s\u2019allume,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb La petite, na\u00efve et ne rougissant pas;<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Que de mes bras, d\u00e9faits par de vagues tr\u00e9pas,<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Cette proie, \u00e0 jamais ingrate, se d\u00e9livre<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00bb Sans piti\u00e9 du sanglot dont j\u2019\u00e9tais encore ivre.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Tant pis! vers le bonheur d\u2019autres m\u2019entra\u00eeneront<\/em><\/p><p><em>Par leur tresse nou\u00e9e aux cornes de mon front:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Tu sais, ma passion, que, pourpre et d\u00e9j\u00e0 m\u00fbre,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Chaque grenade \u00e9clate et d\u2019abeilles murmure;<\/em><\/p><p><em>Et notre sang, \u00e9pris de qui le va saisir,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Coule pour tout l\u2019essaim \u00e9ternel du d\u00e9sir.<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00c0 l\u2019heure o\u00f9 ce bois d\u2019or et de cendres se teinte<\/em><\/p><p><em>Une f\u00eate s\u2019exalte en la feuill\u00e9e \u00e9teinte:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Etna! c\u2019est parmi toi visit\u00e9 de V\u00e9nus<\/em><\/p><p><em>Sur ta lave posant ses talons ing\u00e9nus,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Quand tonne un somme triste ou s\u2019\u00e9puise la flamme.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Je tiens la reine!<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u00d4 s\u00fbr ch\u00e2timent\u2026<\/em><\/p><p><em>Non, mais l\u2019\u00e2me<\/em><\/p><p><em>De paroles vacante et ce corps allourdi<\/em><\/p><p><em>Tard succombent au fier silence de midi:<\/em><\/p><p><em>Sans plus il faut dormir en l\u2019oubli du blasph\u00e8me,<\/em><\/p><p><em>Sur le sable alt\u00e9r\u00e9 gisant et comme j\u2019aime<\/em><\/p><p><em>Ouvrir ma bouche \u00e0 l\u2019astre efficace des vins!<\/em><\/p><p><em>Couple, adieu; je vais voir l\u2019ombre que tu devins.<\/em><\/p><p lang=\"fr-FR\">St\u00e9phane Mallarm\u00e9, &#8220;L&#8217;apr\u00e8s-midi d&#8217;un faune&#8221;,&nbsp;1876<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Pompidou&#8217;s deputy director Isabelle Monod Fontaine proves how the figure has been at the core of Henry Matisse entire career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1796],"tags":[629],"class_list":["post-5705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mapping-the-artscape","tag-henri-matisse"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}