1958 Lithograph "Acrobates" (Acrobats) After Henri Matisse

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Original color lithograph after Henri Matisse from the "The Last Works of Henri Matisse" (the American Edition of "Verve 35/36"). … Read more Original color lithograph after Henri Matisse from the "The Last Works of Henri Matisse" (the American Edition of "Verve 35/36"). Between 1950-1954, Matisse made a series of "gouaches découpés" (cut-outs), by painting gouache on paper and then cut out shapes with scissors to make collages. Matisse personally directed the first lithographic pulls in collaboration with the renowned lithography atelier Mourlot Frères of Paris, published in 1958. Matisse died before the work was published and it then became a tribute to him. Print size: 9-1/2 x 9 inches; sheet size: 14 x 10 3/8 inches; verso titled.

Per the Colophon, a copy of which is provided:

"This book is dedicated entirely to the last works of Matisse: 1950-1954. Reproduced in colour lithography, these works were executed by the artist with papers colored in gouache, cut with scissors and pasted. They are shown here with drawings produced at the same time or during the preceding period. Matisse composed the cover specially for this volume. The first lithographic plates were printed during the year 1954 under his direction. The whole work constitutes number 35/36 of Verve in the French edition.

The lithography in color was printed by Mourlot Frères, the heliogravure in black and white and the typography by the Master Printers Draeger Frères. The American edition is published
by Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. The printing was completed the 28th of July, 1958.

© Copyright in France by Verve, Paris-France 1958. Printed in France."

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was one of the most influential French artists of the 20th century and along with Pablo Picasso, was one of the pillars of the Parisian avant-garde. He initially worked in law, but discovered a passion for art when he began painting as an amateur. He went on to study traditional painting that he soon rejected. Matisse’s use of vibrant color, inventive figuration, and decorative patterns helped redefine many of the formal tenets of painting, and along with Albert Marquet and André Derain, developed a radical method of using color to express light. This anti-naturalistic style inspired the critical name "fauves," or "wild beasts," in what became known as Fauvism. Ironically, Matisse often applied his modern style to traditional subjects such as still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. Such works express a sense of joy and stillness that runs counter to the frenetic works of many of his contemporaries: "what I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter." Although primarily a painter, Matisse was also active as a sculptor and printmaker. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, in failing health, he completed a well-known group of "gouaches découpés", cut-paper collages. See less