Verve: Revue Artistique et Littéraire. Vol. IV, No. 13
Paris: Éditions de la Revue Verve, 1945. 1st Edition. Folio, publisher's paperboards, original color lithographed attached overwraps, original glassine dust jacket.
1945 "De la Couleur" issue of Greek publisher and collector Tériade’s quarterly journal, devoted to the work of influential French painter Matisse. Born on the island of Lesbos as Efstratios Eleftheriades, Tériade moved to Paris in 1915 to study law but soon abandoned his studies to immerse himself in the French art scene. He worked as an art critic and co-directed other avant-garde journals such as Minotaure before establishing Verve in 1937, with the intention being "the most beautiful magazine in the world." Each issue was dedicated to a singe artist, with numbers devoted to the likes of Picasso, Chagall, Braque, and Miró, with original lithographs printed by the masters of Mourlot Studios and texts by writers of the time including Joyce, Hemingway, Camus, Sartre, and Malraux. Verve released 38 issues across ten volumes before folding in 1960 as Tériade shifted his focus to produce lavish artist books. Tériade’s collaborations with Matisse were particularly legendary, with the artist being a principal contributor since the first issue, when he designed the inaugural cover. Additionally, Tériade allowed the wheelchair-bound Matisse to "paint with scissors" by experimenting with the printer’s pre-dyed gouache papers. This process led to Jazz (1947), Matisse's lively and legendary portfolio of cutouts. The present issue demonstrates his transition into cut-outs (découpage) in realtime (many of which he created during the Nazi occupation of Paris), with two original pochoir plates (the title page and his study of Icarus, later republished in Jazz), and two original lithograph portraits of Tériade’s assistant and collaborator Angèle Lamotte, as well as additional plates in color and black-and-whie, and text by writer and graphic artist André Rouveyre. Text in French. Light offsetting to letterpress title page recto and verso from lithograph title page beneath. Some chipping and moderate edgewear to attached wraps, moderate chipping and edgewear to glassine dust jacket, including a large closed tear to upper panel. Overall, very good and complete with all plates. Item #12977
$1,500.00