“Henri Matisse: roman” two volume first edition set, Louis Aragon

Henri Matisse:  roman (novel) 

By Louis Aragon

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972. Hardcover. White cloth with white glossy, color-illustrated dustjackets contained in a red cloth slipcase. 2 Volumes. [vi], 356; [iv], 366 pp.

"The reader will discover Matisse watercolorist, draftsman, ceramist, and the architect-- and unquestionably one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century."

A wonderful and exhaustive novel of Henri Matisse by French poet and friend to Matisse Louis Aragon, profusely illustrated throughout with art by Matisse. Translated from the original French by Jean Stewart. With 155 color illustrations and a vast profusion of black and white illustrations throughout, several folding, over 500 in all.

From jacket: A huge, fascinating look at Matisse and his creative process by Aragon, one of France's foremost poets, covering the twenty-seven years of their acquaintance. Profusely illustrated with photographs of the artist and his models, paintings, and drawings these 2 thick volumes are both a visual and literary treat.

"It took Aragon close to twenty-seven years to put this book together. He assembled here all that he had ever written on Matisse, adding to it, elaborating on it, providing his glosses, letting memory do its creative work, shaping his material into what it pleases him to call ‘a novel’, and allowing himself numerous digressions. In spite of his elliptical ways, however, the subject ‘Matisse’ is overwhelmingly present, most obviously through the illustrations, carefully keyed into the text following Aragon’s layout instructions and admirably illuminating it, but no less through Matisse’s own words which Aragon records with scrupulous fidelity. What he has arrived at is a dialogue between writer and painter unique in writings on artists and art and uniquely revealing of the creative process."

Dimensions: Box - 11.5" x 8..75" x 3.25"

Books - 8.75" x 11" x 1.5"