Henri Matisse 1869-1964 Peintures Et Dessins Recents. 1945 11.625 x 14.625 inches. Mourlot, Paris. Condition B+: minor restored losses incorners. It was only after WWII that the Parisian galleries began using posters on a regular basis in order to

Henri Matisse 1869-1964 Peintures Et Dessins Recents. 1945 11.625 x 14.625 inches. Mourlot, Paris. Condition B+: minor restored losses incorners. It was only after WWII that the Parisian galleries began using posters on a regular basis in order to advertise their exhibitions, this poster quite possibly being the very first of this type of visual announcement. Fernand Mourlot, who printed most of these images, mentions in "Les Affiches Originales des Maitres de l'Ecole de Paris," that the poster had a run of 150 copies, but the size that he designated 80 x 120cm is much bigger than our copy. It would seem that Mourlot probably made a mistake, because due to a shortage of paper at that time, it was unusual to find a poster usingsuch a large format. Also, since the image and format were horizontal that size would make it almost impossible to hang the poster in cafes, shops, and galleries. The last piece of evidence that indicates this smaller version to be the real thing are the stamps onits surface that were required at that time to post a bill in Paris although they werent required much past 1945 Printed in only two colors, it is an exquisite Matisse drawing and very rare indeed. ref.Fernand Mourlot, Les Affiches Originales des Maitres de l'Ecole de Paris by Andre Sauret, 1952 - reproduced p.38