BLUE NUDE III

This is an original lithograph by the French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954), who is considered to be one of the key artists in the significant development of 20th century painting and sculpture. In 1941, Matisse had surgery for stomach cancer and the surgery permanently restricted his mobility. He could no longer paint, so he developed a new art form: paper cut-outs. He supervised lithographs of his cut-outs until his death in 1954.

In 1952, he created a series of studies on women's posture, which he reproduced from paintings he made in 1928. The series was four images called "Blue Nudes". This is Blue Nude III.

The image is 9" x 12 1/2". It is signed (in the plate), in black ink, lower right. It is set into a white mat and framed with a sand-colored wooden frame (expensively framed by DeSerres Montreal). Glass-fronted; the back is covered by a solid panel of fibreboard.

Note: These photos were taken in very yellow light. I tried to tone it down a little but, in doing so, washed out some of the blue. The blue is bright marine; the paper and mounting are white, the frame is the color of light sand.