Signed and dated on the stone lower right Henri Matisse 6/43.

A fine impression of the definitive state after Matisse's cut paper collage, as published in the review Verve, vol IV. no. 13 "De la Couleur", by Efstratios Teriade, Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, 1945; printed by Maitres-Impremeieurs Draeger Feres, Paris.

In excellent condition, with bright, fresh colors. At the beginning of the 1940's Matisse was starting to concentrate on the technique of using cut paper collages to create abstract color compositions. The dense smooth colors and clear-cut shapes created a totally new artistic language for him. It was in seeking to extend this concept that he began, under the encouragement of the publisher Triade to experiment with using the same shapes linked to lithography, and then moved to using the stencils with pochoir color for this removed the problem of lithography diluting the color intensity. Matisse's project was to create an album titles Jazz - forms expressed through a brilliant highly emotional purity of vibrant color. The first trials were made using lithography, and it was in this connection that the Icarus composition above was issued by Teriade in Verve as a form of publicity for the forthcoming album. It is one of the great characteristic images of Matisse's oeuvre of this period.

Claude Duthuit, Henri Matisse: Catalogue raisonne des ouvrages illustres, Paris, 1988, pg. 363, no. 47 (ill.).