Prestiges de Matisse

VERDET, André. Prestiges de Matisse. Preceded by Visit to Matisse – Conversations with Matisse. Paris, Éditions Émile-Paul, 1952. 8vo, illustrated publisher's wrappers. First edition, one of 1760 copies on Condat chiffon wove paper (no. 1778), with original cover designed expressly by Henri Matisse depicting the celebrated motif of blue quatrefoils on cream ground — one of the artist's last graphic works, executed two years before his death. Work enriched by fourteen plates outside the text, three of which in color, documenting the work and studio of the Fauvist master. André Verdet (1913-2004), Nice-born poet and art critic, was an intimate friend of Matisse in the final years of his life in Cimiez; these dialogues constitute a direct and precious testimony to Matisse's artistic thought. Copy in good condition with normal wear patina to the cover.