Henri Matisse

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.

This piece is based upon the
original cut-out of the same title, which is held in the collection of the
Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland. The collectors Hildy and Ernst Beyeler
acquired the cut-out directly from Matisse’s daughter Marguerite in 1960. It
measures an extraordinary 312 x 352cm.

Matisse had long
been fascinated with the wide green leaves of the acanthus plant. On a sojourn
to Morocco in 1912, he was delighted to find the nation’s landscapes “just as
they had been described in the paintings of Delacroix and in Pierre Loti's
novels”. Acanthus plants feature prominently in two canvases he executed that year in the
grounds of the Villa Brooks near his hotel; one of the paintings is simply
titled “Acanthes”.

The original cut-out
was initially pinned to the walls in Matisse’s studio. Confined to bed by ill
health, he cut out the shapes himself and then instructed his studio assistants
where to place each piece of paper in the composition. We know from the number
of pinholes in the blue shapes that they were the first to be laid down, and
that the rest of Acanthes developed in response to these forms.

The distinctive
shape of the plant’s leaves and flowers are reduced in this lithograph to their
most simple and radiant forms.

The lithographs from this portfolio are in stunning condition and are becoming extremely scarce.

Referenced in the Catalogue Raisonne: Duthuit 139. Freitag 6231

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