Madame Josette Gris

(After) Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954, France) “Madame Josette Gris” - Original lithograph in black on thick wove paper, signed in the plate. It is from the first printing of Matisse portraits published by Andre Sauret in Monte Carlo under the direction of the artist in December 1954. Matisse had died shortly before publication, making this collaboration one of the last things the great modern master worked on before he died November 3, 1954. The image measures 9 x 7 inches, and it has been encased to museum quality specifications in an elaborate frame, with matting and gold fillet measuring 19 x 17 inches. This piece is “after” one of the portraits Matisse created in 1914-1915 of Josette Gris (wife of Matisse’s friend, artist Juan Gris.) Gris had sought refuge in France and was living in poverty due to the Great World War (WWI) when Matisse ‘hired’ Josette to sit for a series of etchings at his home in Collioure, France. In the etchings, he would turn Josette Gris this way and that, studying her face from several angles, a physical manipulation that he performed with female models.