Color aquatint, 1922-23. 483x601 mm; 19x23 3/4 inches, full margins. Signed by Matisse and numbered 47/200 in ink, lower margin. Etched by Jacques Villon. Published by Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris. A very good, well-inked impression, with strong colors.
This color aquatint is based on the same-titled oil by Matisse, now in a private collection, New York.
Many prominent French artists produced "after" prints, that is etchings, aquatints and lithographs produced after their well-known oil paintings, issuing works that were made by the same professional printmakers that they were working with to produce their "original" editions. In some cases, the "after" prints were created by well-known artists, like Jacques Villon, who also made prints after paintings by Manet, Cézanne, Van Gogh and Picasso. "After" prints were also created under the auspices of artists' publishers. Like his contemporaries--Chagall, Braque and Picasso--Matisse assisted the printers closely throughout the entire process; he chose each image and which technique to use, directed the lithographer or engraver, and corrected and approved the proofs, authorizing his production of the work by hand signing the edition.
These "after" prints reproduce prominent, large color paintings from earlier in the artists' careers, created before they had begun to utilize color printmaking techniques. Generally, these "after" editions have been championed by print publishers too as a means of extending the artists' commercial output. Ginestet/Pouillon 633 (Villon); Duthuit I.
