Matisse, Henri (Tristesse du Roi) Verve. Paris 1958. Double page. $2,200.00

“Tristesse du Roi”

The lithographs from this series were begun in 1950, at the end of the artist's life, and are 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.

One of Matisse's most acclaimed cut-outs, he considered Tristesse du Roi equal to his greatest paintings and is considered Matisse's final self-portrait. Above all else, it reflects upon old age and the power of memory. Despite the fierce jubilation of the colors and revolutionary cut-out technique employed to create the scene, Matisse's composition is a monument to the serenity and splendor that his work had attained at the end of his life.
The original cut-out belongs to the great flowering of papiers découpés that Matisse created in 1952, including the legendary Blue Nudes. Tristesse du Roi, with its sumptuous atmosphere of ultramarine blue and dazzling ingenuity of forms, should be seen as intimately linked to these critical works within the artist's oeuvre. As the cut-out is one of the treasures of Matisse's collaged works, so the lithograph is one of the most important and desirable entries in the Verve portfolio.

Pochoir print
14 x 20 5/8 inches double page.
Very good condition.