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James Joyce's "Ulysses"

Symbolic Landscape, Ithaca

1935
(French, 1869–1954)
France, 20th century
softground etching
Platemark: 28.5 x 22.5 cm (11 1/4 x 8 7/8 in.); Sheet: 42.5 x 31.7 cm (16 3/4 x 12 1/2 in.)
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1935.280.6
© Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Duthuit Vol.I, Matisse 240
Location: not on view
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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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 view of his long-pursued home on Ithaca. 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.
Symbolic Landscape, Ithaca

Symbolic Landscape, Ithaca

1935

Henri Matisse

(French, 1869–1954)
France, 20th century

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