One of three hundred Deluxe proofs printed on Arches wove paper and signed by Henri Matisse, aside from the standard edition.

Thanks to Mourlot, exhibition posters have become collectable works of art in their own right. From the 1930's, Mourlot became the place for artists and galleries to create their posters for upcoming exhibitions. However, this was not a relationship where an artist left a printer to simply create a reproduction of an existing painting. Instead, Fernand Mourlot first invited artists to learn the skill of lithography alongside the master printers of the studio, working directly on the stones to create original artworks. This led to a permanent collaboration between artist and printmaker, meaning the lithographs are an undeniable part of the artist’s original genius and work.

Matisse had first worked with Mourlot in 1937, when the lithographer had been commissioned to produce a poster for an exhibition featuring one of his paintings. Matisse was extremely meticulous and imposed constant corrections and alterations upon the design as it evolved. Even photographic reproductions were subject to his personal approval, and colour proofs had to be presented for every detail. Although sceptical throughout the process, he was delighted with the final result and would go on to produce hundreds of lithographs with Mourlot.

Matisse's standards remained almost impossibly high throughout each project; Volume 13 of Verve, published in 1945, took two years to prepare because of Matisse's insistence that even the smallest detail be perfect. In addition to lithographs, the issue featured several photographic reproductions of the artist's paintings, printed in four colours. Matisse was unsatisfied with these images, made endless colour corrections, and cautioned his printers about altering the colours to make them brighter. Although time-consuming, Matisse's exacting standards resulted in work of the highest quality and integrity.

This poster is a particularly vivid example of the dedication Matisse and Mourlot lavished upon their work. From 1943 to 1949, the artist lived at the Villa Le Rêve, a seaside estate in Vence, His studio here consisted of two connected rooms on the second floor of the house, with windows overlooking large palm trees in the front garden. In 1947, he began work on a group of paintings that would come to be known as the Vence Interiors. These would be his last paintings, and they demonstrate an extraordinary freedom of colour and composition. In the spring of 1948 he wrote to his son Pierre to report that his most recent paintings "impress everyone who has seen them because they are vivid and rich." The work featured in this poster - Still Life with Pomegranates - is a typical example.

Surely one of the most beautiful travel posters ever produced, this work is a dazzling fusion of the painter's extraordinary eye and the printer's profound sensitivity.

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