Heliogravure on velin paper, mounted on velin paper backing sheet, as issued. Paper Size: 12 x 9.25 inches; image size: 9.05 x 5.91 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Condition: Very good/excellent, consistent with age. Notes: From the album, Portraits par Henri Matisse, 1954. Published by Editions du livre, Monte-Carlo, under the direction of Andre Sauret, Monte-Carlo; printed by Louis Duval, Paris, December 20, 1954. Excerpted from the album (translated from French), This album was composed entirely by Henri Matisse, who himself chose the works lithographed. The cover is a composition by the artist, executed especially for this work, as well as the original lithograph printed on the frontispiece. This album, directed by Andre Sauret, under the direction of Henri Matisse, was drawn to MMDCCCL examples, numbered from I to MMDCCCL, and completed printing on December 20, 1954. The original lithography, the cover and the color plates were drawn on the presses of the Mourlot Freres workshops; the phototypie is by Louis Duval; and, the typography of L'Imprimerie Union. HENRI MATISSE (1869-1954) was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter. Matisse is commonly regarded, along with Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, as one of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting and sculpture. Although he was initially labeled a Fauve (wild beast), by the 1920s he was increasingly hailed as an upholder of the classical tradition in French painting. His mastery of the expressive language of colour and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art. In 2018, the Matisse's painting, Odalisqque couchee aux magnolias, sold for $80,750,000 at Christie's, which set a world record for the artist.

Very good/excellent, consistent with age