These lithographs were begun in 1950, almost at the end of the artist's life, and are from the only edition of lithographs of the cut-outs produced directly by Matisse working with Mourlot. The images reproduce his iconic pochoir designs and were incorporated into a volume of the French portfolio Verve, ‘Dernieres Oeuvres de Matisse’, also known as Verve 35/36, celebrating his last works and published posthumously by Teriade in Paris in 1958.

The cut-out upon which this lithograph is based was the final work that Matisse completed before his death in November 1954. Nelson A. Rockefeller, businessman, art collector and future Vice President of the United States, had commissioned the artist to produce La Rosace as a memorial to his mother. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller had been a devoted patron of the arts and had entertained Matisse at her home in New York. He maintained a "vivid memory" of her, and wrote in a letter that “I am working on a commission for a rosace in glass which is destined for a small church in America as a memorial for Madame Rockefeller, who was very devout in her life. It is a job that is filling me with pleasure.”

Matisse died before the window itself could be completed, but his daughter Marguerite discovered the cut-out in his apartment and took charge of the commission, investing it with great significance as her father's final work. Nelson Rockefeller wrote that “To have this window the last thing Matisse did and have him feel as he did about it […] because it was for Mother […] combine to make something far more beautiful and wonderful than we could have hoped for.”

The window was dedicated on Mother's Day 1956. It was installed in Union Church in Pocantico Hills, a small country chapel near the Rockefeller estate in rural New York. This exceptional building is also home to nine windows designed by Marc Chagall. 

This lithograph bears a profound significance within the Verve portfolio, and is a spectacular culmination of a career that irrevocably changed the course of art. 

The lithographs are in stunning condition and are becoming extremely scarce.

Referenced in the Catalogue Raisonne: Duthuit 139. Freitag 6231

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