Le renard blanc (Duthuit 514), 1929

"Le renard blanc" is a lithograph on Arches created by Henri Matisse in 1929. From the edition of 98, the artwork is signed 'Henri Matisse' and annotated lower right. The artwork is framed in a custom closed corner gold-leaf frame and has a framed size of 34.75 x 28.25". The artwork ships framed and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

“Matisse worked ‘episodically’ on print projects, embracing the medium with enthusiasm for a period of time then stopping completely, only to take up printmaking once again years later.” – John Yao
(Henri Matisse Prints, exhibition catalog, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, 2017)

Henri Matisse stands among the defining figures of modern art, celebrated for his innovations in color, line, and composition. Though renowned for his paintings and late cut outs, he was also a master printmaker who approached lithography and drawing as vital extensions of his practice. As John Yao observed, Matisse worked episodically in printmaking, immersing himself fully before returning to it years later. When he did, the results were marked by clarity, restraint, and psychological acuity.

Created in 1929, “Le Renard Blanc (D.514)” is a refined black and white lithograph from a period when Matisse was deeply engaged in portraiture shaped by fashion, identity, and modern life. The composition presents a seated woman with arms crossed, dressed in a dark gown and enveloped by a dramatic white fox fur stole. Her short, finger waved hair and double strand of pearls situate her firmly within the sophistication of interwar Paris. She appears composed and self-possessed, her gaze direct yet introspective.

Matisse’s economy of line is central to the work’s power. With spare yet decisive strokes, he articulates the contrast between the dark dress and the luminous fur, transforming texture into pure graphic tension. The white fox becomes both accessory and compositional device, heightening the interplay of light and shadow. Details such as the pendant and pearls are rendered with minimal means, distilled to essential marks that suggest refinement without excess.

The crossed arms introduce a subtle psychological dimension. Rather than presenting a passive sitter, Matisse conveys a sense of interiority and self-awareness. The portrait transcends fashion to become a study in modern femininity, balancing elegance with restraint and glamour with reserve.

“Le Renard Blanc (D.514)” captures the spirit of 1920s Paris while demonstrating Matisse’s mastery of lithography as an art of precision and insight. Through ink and paper alone, he evokes texture, status, and character with remarkable immediacy. The result is a work of enduring sophistication, where line becomes both description and expression, and modern identity is distilled into its most essential form.