Aelous, Cave of the Winds America, 20th century

James Joyce's "Ulysses"

Aelous, Cave of the Winds

1935

Henri Matisse

(French, 1869–1954)

America, 20th century

softground etching

Platemark: 29.5 x 23 cm (11 5/8 x 9 1/16 in.); Sheet: 41.5 x 31.7 cm (16 5/16 x 12 1/2 in.)

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1935.280.2

Catalogue raisonné: Duthuit Vol.I, Matisse 238

Location: not on view

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Description

When asked to illustrate a new edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Henri Matisse chose to depict six episodes from The Odyssey, the ancient Greek epic by Homer that inspired Joyce. Here, we see Ulysses’s ship driven by the winds from the god Aeolus. This print belongs to a portfolio published alongside the book by the Limited Edition Club. Its founder and editor, George Macy, commissioned the illustrations soon after a 1933 ruling lifting the US ban on Joyce’s novel, establishing that it was not obscene in a legal sense and had literary merit. Although Matisse’s decision was unpopular with Macy’s subscribers, his images made the publication one of the most sought-after illustrated books of the 1900s.