Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

The present drawing was executed by Matisse for Verve, the French art periodical founded by publisher Estafros Tériade in 1937. The magazine, a quarterly review of arts and letters, was lavish in design and challenging in content. Thirty-eight issues were published in total between 1939 and 1960. Tériade featured covers and interior art by well-known modern artists of the twentieth century.
Although the present work is dated 1949, the year they were given to Tériade for publication in Verve, it was actually drawn in 1948.