Eight artists draw inspiration from Henri Matisse’s Jazz: Agnès Thurnauer, Alexandre Benjamin Navet, Claire Trotignon, Etel Adnan, Isabelle Ferreira, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Pierre Charpin and Tania Mouraud.

In 1947, Matisse created Jazz. A book like no other that pairs twenty vibrant pochoir prints with handwritten aphorisms that read like a melody. Published by Tériade, Jazz is now considered one of the most significant 20^th century artists’ books.

It’s a vibrant improvisation with tension between color and gesture. Vivid paper cutouts, born from the swift dance of scissors through gouache-painted sheets, punctuated by Matisse’s cursive script. The circus scenes, color lagoons, and acrobats aren’t just illustrations; they’re companions to an inner rhythm that gives rise to an improvisation pulsing with life, spontaneity, and childlike wonder.

Nearly eighty years later, Jazz remains fresh and powerful. This exhibition rekindles its spirit and picks up that tempo. The most surprising revelation is that the exhibiting artists, despite their diverse backgrounds in fashion, design, and the visual arts, all experienced a moment of inspiration akin to Matisse’s. 

Each artist, in their own way, returned to Matisse and the simple, radical act of cutting into color and drawing with language. Enjoy the rhythms they’ve traced. Feel the beats they’ve drawn.

Claudine Grammont
Exhibition curator