A lithographic version of La Danse by HENRI MATISSE (1869–1954), designed for publication in the January-March 1939 issue of the Parisian art quarterly Verve. The original 1910 canvas was one of two paintings, along with La Musique, commissioned by Moscow businessman Sergei Shchukin (1854–1936). A key point in the development of modern art as well as in Matisse’s career, the theme of La Danse is human fulfillment through immersion in creativity. Unlike in the painting, the dancers here are framed with blocks of color, giving the litho the look of a cut-out paper collage: the artist’s singular late-career invention. Gallery COA provided.

HENRI ÉMILE BENÔIT MATISSE (1869—1954) was an influential and revolutionary artist of the early 20^th century—best known for the expressive color and form of his Fauvist style. Born to a grain merchant in northern France, he initially pursued the law and worked for a time as a clerk. At the age of 21, while convalescing from a serious bout with appendicitis, he discovered a passion for painting. After only a few years of study at the Paris atelier of Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau (1826—1898), Matisse exhibited four paintings at the École des Beaux-Arts’ annual Salon in 1896—and scored an early triumph with the sale of his Woman Reading (1895).

Self-confident and venturesome, Matisse experimented with pointillism before abandoning it for the swirling brushwork and riots of color that would become known as Fauvism. Though his subjects were largely domestic and figurative, his works exhibit a distinctive Mediterranean vitality. He also took up sculpture, producing some 60 pieces during his lifetime.

In 1917 Matisse moved to the French Riviera. His paintings became less daring, but his output remained prodigious. After 1939 he became increasingly active as a graphic artist (chronic illness impacted his ability to paint upright, and he underwent abdominal cancer surgery in 1941). He published the book Jazz in 1947, reflections on art and life with brilliantly hued illustrations that he produced by “drawing with scissors”: motifs were pasted together after being cut out of sheets of colored paper. Matisse designed the magnificent Rosary Chapel at Vence as a gift to the Dominican nuns who cared for him in his final years.

NOTABLE WORKS:

• Woman with a Hat, 1905
• Le bonheur de vivre, 1906
• Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra), 1907
• Dance, 1910
• The Red Studio, 1911
• The Snail, 1953

Never ruin a good painting with the truth. – HENRI MATISSE

DETAILS

Artist – after HENRI MATISSE (1869—1954)

Period/Year – 1938

Origin – ORIGIN

Styles/Movements – FAUVISM

Media – LITHOGRAPH

Support – PAPER

Edition – EDITION

Colors – SCARLET, ROYAL, CANARY, LIGHT GREEN

Condition – Excellent vintage condition. May show minor signs of previous ownership and use.

Dimensions – 26 ½" H × 66 ½" W × 1 ½" D