Original color lithograph, "Thousand and One Nights", after a cut-out collage by Henri Matisse, published in March 1951 for the exhibition  "Sur Quatre Murs" and printed by Atelier Maeght; signed and dated in stone lower right.  Presented in a 1 inch wide, handmade matte black wood frame, with an ivory conservation mat, and protected by Tru Vue Optium Museum Acrylic® glazing.  Print size: 12 1/4 x 32 1/2 inches; overall size with frame: 17 x 37 inches.  As with all of our framed art, the frame and framing materials are new.  The print is in excellent condition with two barely visible folds as issued, slight toning, and having never been previously displayed; since framing is stored in a controlled environment away from light.
 
Atelier Maeght is one of the most renowned printmakers in history, producing prints of the highest quality.
 
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was one of the most influential French artists of the 20th century and along with Pablo Picasso, was one of the pillars of the Parisian avant-garde.  He initially worked in law, but discovered a passion for art when he began painting as an amateur.  He went on to study traditional painting that he soon rejected.  Matisse’s use of vibrant color, inventive figuration, and decorative patterns helped redefine many of the formal tenets of painting, and along with Albert Marquet and André Derain, developed a radical method of using color to express light.  This anti-naturalistic style inspired the critical name "fauves," or "wild beasts," in what became known as Fauvism.  Ironically, Matisse often applied his modern style to traditional subjects such as still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. Such works express a sense of joy and stillness that runs counter to the frenetic works of many of his contemporaries: "what I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter."  Although primarily a painter, Matisse was also active as a sculptor and printmaker.  In the 1940s, in failing health, he completed a well-known group of cut-paper collages.