Printer: Mourlot. Published by Tériade for Verve 

Dimensions: 35.7 x 26.5 cm 

Condition: Very Good

Frame: Unframed or Framed.

Description: Printed signature and date, 'Matisse Juin 50'. Printed on wove paper. Printed by Mourlot. 

Matisse created the original cut-out, on which this lithograph is based, in 1950. It was a new take on the theme of the dance, a decades-long interest for the artist. According to the writer Louis Aragon, the figure was inspired by the American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham, who Matisse invited to his studio in France to perform. Matisse sketched her while she danced, then made the cutout in a single day from his drawings. 

Artist: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) the French artist, draughtsman, printmaker, sculptor and painter was one of the undisputed masters and influential artists of 20th century art. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and would quickly become the leader of the fauvist movement. He was known for his use of brilliant colour, inspired by his time on the French Riviera, and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was one of the three artists, along with Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, who began to revolutionise the artworld from the 1900s. For over 60 years, his vast output included painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic arts – etchings, linocuts, aquatints, paper cut-outs and book illustrations. And he worked with Mourlot studios on lithographs and exhibition posters.