Miniature Abstract Prints

This exquisite lithograph by Alexander Calder (1898–1976), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the album Prints from the Mourlot Press, exhibition sponsored by the French Embassy, cir...

This exquisite lithograph by Alexander Calder (1898–1976), titled Anneaux sur noir (Rings on Black), originates from the historic 1973 folio Derriere le Miroir, No. 201. Published by...

Ed Ruscha WALKS TALKS FLIES SWIMS AND CRAWLS (Hand Signed by Ed Ruscha), 1992 Offset lithograph invitation card (hand signed) Vintage Robert Miller Gallery invitation card Boldly sig...

This exquisite lithograph by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Le cavalier bleu (The Blue Rider), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VII, No. 25–26, originates from the 1951 issue published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Draeger freres, Maitres-Imprimeurs, Paris, October 25, 1951. This remarkable composition exemplifies Picasso’s dynamic postwar period in Vallauris, where he explored themes of mythology, vitality, and the human spirit through bold forms and radiant color. Le cavalier bleu reflects Picasso’s fascination with movement and symbolism, uniting painterly vigor and poetic freedom in a masterful vision of modernism. Executed as a lithograph on velin du Marais paper, this work measures 14 x 10.5 inches. Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of the Draeger freres atelier, renowned for its collaborations with the leading modernists of the 20th century. Artwork Details: Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Title: Le cavalier bleu (The Blue Rider), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VII, No. 25–26, 1951 Medium: Lithograph on velin du Marais paper Dimensions: 14 x 10.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued Date: 1951 Publisher: Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris Printer: Draeger freres, Maitres-Imprimeurs, Paris Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VII, No. 25–26, published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, 1951 Notes: Excerpted from the album (translated from French), This issue of Verve is entirely devoted to Picasso’s recent works (peintures, sculptures et ceramiques) made in Vallauris between 1949 and 1951. The cover and the frontispiece were specially composed by the artist for this work which was completed to print on the presses of the Maitres-Imprimeurs, Draeger freres on October 25, 1951. About the Publication: Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire was one of the most influential art periodicals of the 20th century, founded in Paris in 1937 by the visionary Greek-born publisher Teriade (Stratis Eleftheriades). Conceived as a synthesis of art and literature, Verve brought together the greatest modern artists and writers of its time—Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Joan Miro, Fernand Leger, and others—alongside poets and philosophers such as Paul Eluard, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Each issue was a work of art in itself, luxuriously printed by master lithographers such as Mourlot Freres and produced in collaboration with leading typographers and designers. Verve became a platform for avant-garde creativity, publishing original lithographs and essays that reflected the evolving spirit of modernism. Matisse collaborated closely with Teriade from the magazine’s inception, producing some of its most iconic issues, including those devoted to his paper cut-outs. The final Verve issue of 1958, which featured La Tristesse du Roi and the Nu Bleu series, stands as a testament to Matisse’s enduring genius and to the publication’s legacy as the definitive meeting of art, poetry, and printing craftsmanship in 20th-century France. About the Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and ceramicist whose extraordinary vision revolutionized modern art and defined the visual language of the 20th century. A child prodigy from Malaga, Spain, Picasso’s career spanned more than seven decades and encompassed an astonishing range of styles and innovations—from the melancholic Blue and romantic Rose periods to his pioneering invention of Cubism with Georges Braque, which shattered conventional notions of perspective and form. Influenced by the bold expressiveness of El Greco, the structure of Cezanne, and the vitality of African and Iberian sculpture, Picasso became a central figure of the Paris avant-garde, working in creative dialogue with contemporaries such as Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray. His insatiable experimentation extended across painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture, forever expanding the boundaries of artistic expression. A master of reinvention, Picasso profoundly shaped generations of artists who followed—from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, and Jean-Michel Basquiat to Jeff Koons and Banksy—cementing his status as a timeless cultural icon whose works remain among the most sought after worldwide. His landmark painting Les Femmes d’Alger (Version “O”) achieved a record-breaking sale of $179,365,000 at Christie’s, New York, on May 11, 2015, affirming Picasso’s enduring legacy as one of the most influential and valuable artists in history. Pablo Picasso Le cavalier bleu, Picasso Verve...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Series L, Variation 13, originates from the rare 1943 folio Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations. Published by Martin Fabiani, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Georges Duval, Paris, on February 27, 1943, this edition presents a suite of drawings that encapsulate Matisse’s lifelong pursuit of purity in draftsmanship and composition. Created under the artist’s supervision, each plate demonstrates Matisse’s mastery of contour and simplicity, transforming minimal gestures into harmonies of balance and grace that evoke both strength and serenity. Executed on velin pur fil paper, this lithograph measures 9.62 x 12.88 inches (24.44 x 32.72 cm). It is signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued, in accordance with the authorized 1943 publication format. Produced during wartime Paris under the direction of publisher Martin Fabiani, this folio embodies Matisse’s commitment to artistic renewal through discipline, sensitivity, and elegance. It remains a landmark in 20th-century printmaking, celebrated for the lyrical clarity and modernity of its graphic vision. Artwork Details: Artist: After Henri Matisse (1869–1954) Title: Series L, Variation 13, from Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations, 1943 Medium: Lithograph on velin pur fil paper Dimensions: Paper size 9.62 x 12.88 inches (24.44 x 32.72 cm) Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Date: 1943 Publisher: Martin Fabiani, Editeur, Paris Printer: Georges Duval, Paris Catalogue raisonne reference: Duthuit, Claude. Henri Matisse: Catalogue raisonne des ouvrages illustres. Editions Claude Duthuit, Paris, 1988, illustration 9 Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the 1943 folio Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations, published by Martin Fabiani, Editeur, Paris Notes: Excerpted from the 1943 folio (translated from French): "Finished printing in Paris, on February 27, 1943, at the expense of Martin Fabiani, publisher, with the help of Roger Lacouriere. Henri Matisse’s 'Themes and Variations' were printed by G. Duval and the preface of Aragon, printed by Fequet et Baudier. Justification of the draw—This folio has been printed in CML examples, all numbered, namely: X examples on Imperial Japan, numbered from I to X, signed by the artist; XX examples on Velin d’Arches, numbered from II to XXX, signed by the artist; and CMXX examples on Velin pur fil, numbered from XXXI to CML." About the Artist: Henri Matisse (1869–1954) was a French painter, draughtsman, sculptor, and printmaker whose bold use of color, fluid line, and decorative brilliance helped define modernism and Fauvism. Born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Matisse trained at the Academie Julian and later in Paris, where his expressive palette and relaxed compositions challenged conventions of light and form. Alongside his contemporary and friendly rival Pablo Picasso, Matisse reshaped the course of 20th-century art, each artist pushing the other toward greater innovation and emotional depth. Over his career, he worked across a wide array of media—painting, cut-outs, printmaking, sculpture, and interior design—always emphasizing harmony, balance, and visual poetry. His works are in the permanent collections of leading museums globally, including the Musee d'Orsay, MoMA, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou. The highest price ever paid for a Matisse artwork is approximately $80.75 million USD, achieved in 2018 at Christie's New York for Odalisque Couchee aux Magnolias (1923). Henri Matisse lithograph, Matisse Series L Variation 13, Matisse Dessins Themes et Variations, Matisse 1943...

Ed Ruscha Hollywood Tantrum, 1979 (hand signed by Ed Ruscha), 2008 Offset lithograph postcard (Hand signed by Ed Ruscha) Offset lithograph postcard Boldly signed in black marker by E...

This exquisite lithograph by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Le seigneur et la dame (The Lord and the Lady), originates from the 1972 edition published by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collaboration with Leon Amiel, editeurs, New York, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, April 5, 1972. This refined and evocative composition exemplifies Picasso’s mature mastery of line, form, and gesture. Le seigneur et la dame captures the artist’s lifelong fascination with the dynamics of human relationships, presenting a pair of figures imbued with both nobility and sensual vitality. Through a synthesis of fluid contours and expressive tension, Picasso transforms a timeless theme—the union of man and woman—into an allegory of strength, grace, and mutual presence. The lithograph’s harmonious balance of spontaneity and structure reflects Picasso’s unparalleled ability to convey emotion and intellect with the most economical means, continuing his exploration of human connection in its most essential and poetic form. Executed as a lithograph on velin d’Arches paper, this work measures 12.81 x 9.81 inches (32.54 x 24.92 cm). Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of the Mourlot Freres atelier, whose collaboration with Picasso over several decades helped define the golden age of modern lithography. Artwork Details: Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Title: Le seigneur et la dame (The Lord and the Lady), 1972 Medium: Lithograph on velin d’Arches paper Dimensions: 12.81 x 9.81 inches (32.54 x 24.92 cm) Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued Date: 1972 Publisher: Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collaboration with Leon Amiel, editeurs, New York Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue raisonne references: Picasso, Pablo, et al. Pablo Picasso: Lithograph. Andre Sauret, Editions du Livre, 1970, illustration 322. Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the edition published by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collaboration with Leon Amiel, editeurs, New York, 1972 Notes: Excerpted from the album (translated from French), This album is the album of friendship, and I want to thank all the artists who wanted to participate. Some lithographs presented here, and whose authors have left us for too long, were made at my request for an album "Adieu a la rue de Chabrol" that I intended to publish ten years ago. So it was at this time that I was able to get the lithos of Braque, Cocteau, Derain, Giacometti and Villon. Mrs. Duthuit-Matisse and her brothers authorized me to print the composition of Henri Matisse, an unused original lithograph of the album by Teriade "La Religieuse portugaise". I am happy to have brought together so many works by contemporary artists, it is a great honor for me and I am infinitely grateful to them. Finished printing in Paris on April 5, 1972, this album was printed on velin d’Arches, in DCCC numbered examples. In addition, a number of copies were printed for artists, friends and collaborators of this album. The original lithographs were printed by Mourlot, and the typography is from Fequet and Baudier. Alain A.C. Mazo, Paris, and Leon Amiel, New York, publishers. About the Publication: Souvenirs et Portraits d'Artistes (Memories and Portraits of Artists), published in 1972 by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, and Leon Amiel, New York, is one of the most personal and heartfelt tributes in the history of 20th-century printmaking. Conceived by the publisher Alain A.C. Mazo as a celebration of friendship and artistic collaboration, the album gathers works by many of the great modern masters who were part of the vibrant Parisian art world. Picasso’s contribution, Le seigneur et la dame, stands as a testament to his expressive power and his lifelong engagement with the theme of human duality. The publication encapsulates the creative synergy that defined an era, uniting artists, printers, and publishers in shared devotion to the art of the lithograph. Each plate in the album resonates with the spirit of mutual admiration and artistic kinship, marking Souvenirs et Portraits d'Artistes as a historic testament to friendship, gratitude, and the enduring beauty of collaborative creation. About the Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and ceramicist whose extraordinary vision revolutionized modern art and defined the visual language of the 20th century. A child prodigy from Malaga, Spain, Picasso’s career spanned more than seven decades and encompassed an astonishing range of styles and innovations—from the melancholic Blue and romantic Rose periods to his pioneering invention of Cubism with Georges Braque, which shattered conventional notions of perspective and form. Influenced by the bold expressiveness of El Greco, the structure of Cezanne, and the vitality of African and Iberian sculpture, Picasso became a central figure of the Paris avant-garde, working in creative dialogue with contemporaries such as Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray. His insatiable experimentation extended across painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture, forever expanding the boundaries of artistic expression. A master of reinvention, Picasso profoundly shaped generations of artists who followed—from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, and Jean-Michel Basquiat to Jeff Koons and Banksy—cementing his status as a timeless cultural icon whose works remain among the most sought after worldwide. His landmark painting Les Femmes d’Alger (Version “O”) achieved a record-breaking sale of $179,365,000 at Christie’s, New York, on May 11, 2015, affirming Picasso’s enduring legacy as one of the most influential and valuable artists in history. Pablo Picasso Le seigneur et la dame, Picasso Mourlot...

This exquisite lithograph by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Peintre et son modele (Painter and His Model), from the album Prints from the Mourlot Press, exhibition sponsored by th...

Medium: original lithograph. Printed in 1974 for the art revue XXe Siecle (issue number 43, devoted to Surrealism) and published in Paris by San Lazzaro. Sheet size: 12 1/4 x 9 3/8 i...

This exquisite lithograph by Andre Masson (1896–1987), titled Le depart (The Departure), originates from the 1972 edition published by Editions A. C. Mazo et Cie., Paris, in collabor...

This work is from the edition of 3000 printed by Simca Print Artists, Inc., New York and published by Brooke Alexander Editions, New York as a catalog cover for Jasper Johns Screenpr...

Agnes Martin Untitled #10, 1990 Lithograph on vellum transparency paper Unsigned Limited Edition of 2500 Publisher: Nemela & Lenzen GmbH, Monchengladback & Stedelijk Museum, ...

Joan Miró Litografia Original VI Color Lithograph Year: 1975 Size: 13.25 × 10 inches (33.65 x 25.4 cm) Catalogue Raisonné: Queneau, Miro Lithographe II, 1952-1963, p.35 Publisher: Ma...

Color lithograph, 1958. Signed by the artist in pencil, lower right. Numbered 19/50 in pencil, lower left. Printed by Mourlot, Paris Overall sheet dimension 24 x 16.5 inches, wit...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Portrait de l’Artiste (Portrait of the Artist), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matis...

This exquisite heliogravure after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Mademoiselle M.A. (Miss M.A.), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matisse), originates...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Mademoiselle L.L. (Miss L.L.), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matisse), originates f...

Andy Warhol Deluxe Collectors' Edition of Exposures (Hand Signed and Numbered), 1979 Hardcover Monograph in leather with gilt edge and stamped in gilt. Hand signed by Andy Warhol on...

Colour lithograph, 1890. 210mm by 285mm (sheet). From W Peck's 'A Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy', 1890. Sir William Peck FRSE FRAS (1862 – 1925) was a Scottish astronomer and scien...

This exquisite lithograph by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Le chevalier en armure (The Armored Knight), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VII, No. 25–26, originate...

This exquisite lithograph by Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015), titled Lotus, originates from the historic 1982 folio Derriere le Miroir, No. 250, Hommage a Aime et Marguerite Maeght (Trib...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Madame L.D. (Mrs. L.D.), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matisse), originates from th...

This exquisite lithograph by Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015), titled Forme Jaune (Yellow Shape), originates from the historic 1958 folio Derriere le Miroir, No. 110. Published by Maeght ...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Madame M.P. (Mrs. M.P.), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matisse), originates from th...

This fold-out card showcases Donald Judd's Series of Ten Woodcuts in Three Color States: Cadmium Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, and Ivory Black. Published by Brooke Alexander, the card...

This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Komposition (Composition), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Laz...

This exquisite lithograph and pochoir by Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), titled Concetto Spaziale (Spatial Concept), from the album XXe siecle, Nouvelle serie, XXIe Annee, No. 12, Mai-Jui...

This exquisite lithograph by Alexander Calder (1898–1976), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 156, originates from the 1966 edition published by Mae...

This exquisite lithograph after Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), titled Concetto Spaziale (Spatial Concept), from the album San Lazzaro et ses Amis, Hommage au fondateur de la revue XXe si...

In the artist's abstract print series, Cosmos, 2023 by a.muse represents an imaginary cosmos - the universe as a place of longing, dreams, wonder, and ethereal beauty. A 13.75" x 11"...

This exquisite heliogravure after Pierre Soulages (1919–2022), titled Planche No. 2 (Plate No. 2), from the folio Pierre Soulages, Peintres d'aujourd'hui (Pierre Soulages, Painters o...

This exquisite heliogravure after Pierre Soulages (1919–2022), titled Planche No. 5 (Plate No. 5), from the folio Pierre Soulages, Peintres d'aujourd'hui (Pierre Soulages, Painters o...

This exquisite collotype after Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Homme barbu, de face (Bearded Man, Frontal View), originates from the rare 1957 folio 40 dessins de Picasso en marge ...

This is the original opening invitation card for Donald Judd: The Last Editions at Brooke Alexander Editions in 1994. The invitation takes the form of a postcard that opens up to rev...

Héliogravure on vélin paper. Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.83 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the folio, Nicolas de Staël, Peintres d'aujourd'hui, 1960. Published by Fernand Hazan, Éditeur, Paris; rendered by Bussière et Nouël, Paris; printed by l'Imprimerie Lecot, Paris, May 1960. Excerpted from the folio (translated from French), CCCLXXV examples of this album, numbered from I to CCCLXXV, are accompanied by an unpublished board illustrating a glued paper of the artist and shot on the presses of Daniel Jacomet, in Paris. The illustrations of this album, completed in May 1960, were shot by Bussière and Nouël and printed by the l'Imprimerie Lecot. The text was drawn by l'Imprimerie Damien and the binding made by F.l.A.P. according to the models of Marcel Jacno. Fernand Hazan Éditeur, 35-37, rue de Seine, Paris. 1960. Droits de reproduction réservés A.D.A.G.P. - Paris. NICOLAS DE STAEL (1914-1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Known for his abstract landscapes and still lifes that uniquely blend colour, form and texture, Nicolas de Staël was fascinated by the world’s many spectacles and documented them through his art. De Staël was born in 1914 into an aristocratic family in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His father served as a cavalry general under Tsar Nicholas II and the family was forced to flee after the Russian Revolution. Both Nicolas’s parents died in the early 1920s, meaning he and his siblings were raised by a foster family in Brussels where he would begin his formal art education at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. De Staël’s early work was influenced by the European avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, including Cubism and Fauvism. However, he soon developed his own distinctive style with thick impasto and a bold use of colour. His early paintings, often sombre in tone, gradually evolved into more vibrant and dynamic compositions, reflecting his growing interest in the emotional and expressive potential of colour and form. In 1938 de Staël had moved to France, where he became an integral part of the post-war Parisian art scene. Having worked initially in the atelier of Fernand Léger, de Staël’s circle of friends came to include Sonia Delaunay, Le Corbusier and Jean Arp, who encouraged his tendencies towards abstract work. His work during this period marked a significant departure from traditional representation, moving towards abstraction while maintaining a strong sense of structure and form. De Staël's paintings from this era showcase his ability to balance abstraction with figuration, using broad, gestural strokes and a vibrant palette to convey movement and energy. What truly set de Staël apart, though, was the step he took beyond abstraction. This came with his football paintings...

Woodcut on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 9.65 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, XXe siècle, Nouvelle série, XXIe Année, N° 13, Noël 19...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Coeur d’amour epris (Heart of Love Taken), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 23, originates from...

Andy Warhol To Earl and Camilla, Love Andy Warhol, 1979 Original Heart Drawing held in book with unique dedication to Earl and Camilla McGrath (Signed Twice by Andy Warhol) This uniq...

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Le Soleil Noir (The Black Sun), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 151–152, originates from the 1965 edition published ...

This exquisite lithograph by Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015), titled Forme Orange (Orange Shape), originates from the historic 1958 folio Derriere le Miroir, No. 110. Published by Maeght...

Silkscreen on Patapar printing parchment paper. Paper Size: 10.125 x 10.125 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Jasper Johns, Screenprints...

This exquisite lithograph and stencil by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Jacqueline à l'étamine (Jacqueline with Gauze), originates from the 1962 folio Pablo Picasso, André Villers...

This exquisite lithograph and pochoir by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Femme et oiseau dans la nuit (Woman and Bird in the Night), from the album XXe Siecle, Nouvelle serie No. 8, or...

Screen print realized by Antonio Vangelli in the mid-20th Century. Edition of 17/30, hand signed and numbered in pencil. Includes a blue wooden frame cm. 74x53.5 Very good condition.

This exquisite lithograph after Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled L’Ecuyere et le clown (The Equestrienne and the Clown), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, La Comedie Humai...

Robert Indiana Numbers: Complete Portfolio of 10 Color Silkscreens (Sheehan 46-55) bound in cloth slip case (Hand Signed, inscribed and dated by Robert Indiana on the first front end...

Werner Bronkhorst, Mockney, 2025 Giclée print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks 43 x 33 cm (16.9 x 13 in) ...

This exquisite lithograph by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled L’Oiseau s’envole sur la zone poussée d’or sur les collines ensoleillées (The Bird Flies Over the Golden Zone on the Sunlit...

Etching on vélin de Rives BFK paper. Paper Size: 11.5 x 9 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Lysistrata, 1934. Published by The Limited E...

Lithograph, stencil on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 9.65 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, XXe siècle, Nouvelle série N° 7...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Madame Matisse (Mrs. Matisse), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matisse), originates f...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Frontispice, Vence 1944–1948 (Frontispiece, Vence 1944–1948), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. ...

Linocut on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 9.65 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Catalogue raisonné reference: Matis...

Tableau, Japanese, limited edition lithograph, black, white, red, signed, number Shinoda's works have been collected by public galleries and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum and Metropolitan Museum (all in New York City), the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the British Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the Singapore Art Museum, the National Museum of Singapore, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. New York Times Obituary, March 3, 2021 by Margalit Fox, Alex Traub contributed reporting. Toko Shinoda, one of the foremost Japanese artists of the 20th century, whose work married the ancient serenity of calligraphy with the modernist urgency of Abstract Expressionism, died on Monday at a hospital in Tokyo. She was 107. Her death was announced by her gallerist in the United States. A painter and printmaker, Ms. Shinoda attained international renown at midcentury and remained sought after by major museums and galleries worldwide for more than five decades. Her work has been exhibited at, among other places, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the British Museum; and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. Private collectors include the Japanese imperial family. Writing about a 1998 exhibition of Ms. Shinoda’s work at a London gallery, the British newspaper The Independent called it “elegant, minimal and very, very composed,” adding, “Her roots as a calligrapher are clear, as are her connections with American art of the 1950s, but she is quite obviously a major artist in her own right.” As a painter, Ms. Shinoda worked primarily in sumi ink, a solid form of ink, made from soot pressed into sticks, that has been used in Asia for centuries. Rubbed on a wet stone to release their pigment, the sticks yield a subtle ink that, because it is quickly imbibed by paper, is strikingly ephemeral. The sumi artist must make each brush stroke with all due deliberation, as the nature of the medium precludes the possibility of reworking even a single line. “The color of the ink which is produced by this method is a very delicate one,” Ms. Shinoda told The Business Times of Singapore in 2014. “It is thus necessary to finish one’s work very quickly. So the composition must be determined in my mind before I pick up the brush. Then, as they say, the painting just falls off the brush.” Ms. Shinoda painted almost entirely in gradations of black, with occasional sepias and filmy blues. The ink sticks she used had been made for the great sumi artists of the past, some as long as 500 years ago. Her line — fluid, elegant, impeccably placed — owed much to calligraphy. She had been rigorously trained in that discipline from the time she was a child, but she had begun to push against its confines when she was still very young. Deeply influenced by American Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell, whose work she encountered when she lived in New York in the late 1950s, Ms. Shinoda shunned representation. “If I have a definite idea, why paint it?,” she asked in an interview with United Press International in 1980. “It’s already understood and accepted. A stand of bamboo is more beautiful than a painting could be. Mount Fuji is more striking than any possible imitation.” Spare and quietly powerful, making abundant use of white space, Ms. Shinoda’s paintings are done on traditional Chinese and Japanese papers, or on backgrounds of gold, silver or platinum leaf. Often asymmetrical, they can overlay a stark geometric shape with the barest calligraphic strokes. The combined effect appears to catch and hold something evanescent — “as elusive as the memory of a pleasant scent or the movement of wind,” as she said in a 1996 interview. Ms. Shinoda’s work also included lithographs; three-dimensional pieces of wood and other materials; and murals in public spaces, including a series made for the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo. The fifth of seven children of a prosperous family, Ms. Shinoda was born on March 28, 1913, in Dalian, in Manchuria, where her father, Raijiro, managed a tobacco plant. Her mother, Joko, was a homemaker. The family returned to Japan when she was a baby, settling in Gifu, midway between Kyoto and Tokyo. One of her father’s uncles, a sculptor and calligrapher, had been an official seal carver to the Meiji emperor. He conveyed his love of art and poetry to Toko’s father, who in turn passed it to Toko. “My upbringing was a very traditional one, with relatives living with my parents,” she said in the U.P.I. interview. “In a scholarly atmosphere, I grew up knowing I wanted to make these things, to be an artist.” She began studying calligraphy at 6, learning, hour by hour, impeccable mastery over line. But by the time she was a teenager, she had begun to seek an artistic outlet that she felt calligraphy, with its centuries-old conventions, could not afford. “I got tired of it and decided to try my own style,” Ms. Shinoda told Time magazine in 1983. “My father always scolded me for being naughty and departing from the traditional way, but I had to do it.” Moving to Tokyo as a young adult, Ms. Shinoda became celebrated throughout Japan as one of the country’s finest living calligraphers, at the time a signal honor for a woman. She had her first solo show in 1940, at a Tokyo gallery. During World War II, when she forsook the city for the countryside near Mount Fuji, she earned her living as a calligrapher, but by the mid-1940s she had started experimenting with abstraction. In 1954 she began to achieve renown outside Japan with her inclusion in an exhibition of Japanese calligraphy at MoMA. In 1956, she traveled to New York. At the time, unmarried Japanese women could obtain only three-month visas for travel abroad, but through zealous renewals, Ms. Shinoda managed to remain for two years. She met many of the titans of Abstract Expressionism there, and she became captivated by their work. “When I was in New York in the ’50s, I was often included in activities with those artists, people like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Motherwell and so forth,” she said in a 1998 interview with The Business Times. “They were very generous people, and I was often invited to visit their studios, where we would share ideas and opinions on our work. It was a great experience being together with people who shared common feelings.” During this period, Ms. Shinoda’s work was sold in the United States by Betty Parsons, the New York dealer who represented Pollock, Rothko and many of their contemporaries. Returning to Japan, Ms. Shinoda began to fuse calligraphy and the Expressionist aesthetic in earnest. The result was, in the words of The Plain Dealer of Cleveland in 1997, “an art of elegant simplicity and high drama.” Among Ms. Shinoda’s many honors, she was depicted, in 2016, on a Japanese postage stamp. She is the only Japanese artist to be so honored during her lifetime. No immediate family members survive. When she was quite young and determined to pursue a life making art, Ms. Shinoda made the decision to forgo the path that seemed foreordained for women of her generation. “I never married and have no children,” she told The Japan Times in 2017. “And I suppose that it sounds strange to think that my paintings are in place of them — of course they are not the same thing at all. But I do say, when paintings that I have made years ago are brought back into my consciousness, it seems like an old friend, or even a part of me, has come back to see me.” Works of a Woman's Hand Toko Shinoda bases new abstractions on ancient calligraphy Down a winding side street in the Aoyama district, western Tokyo. into a chunky white apartment building, then up in an elevator small enough to make a handful of Western passengers friends or enemies for life. At the end of a hall on the fourth floor, to the right, stands a plain brown door. To be admitted is to go through the looking glass. Sayonara today. Hello (Konichiwa) yesterday and tomorrow. Toko Shinoda, 70, lives and works here. She can be, when she chooses, on e of Japans foremost calligraphers, master of an intricate manner of writing that traces its lines back some 3,000 years to ancient China. She is also an avant-garde artist of international renown, whose abstract paintings and lithographs rest in museums around the world. These diverse talents do not seem to belong in the same epoch. Yet they have somehow converged in this diminutive woman who appears in her tiny foyer, offering slippers and ritual bows of greeting. She looks like someone too proper to chip a teacup, never mind revolutionize an old and hallowed art form She wears a blue and white kimono of her own design. Its patterns, she explains, are from Edo, meaning the period of the Tokugawa shoguns, before her city was renamed Tokyo in 1868. Her black hair is pulled back from her face, which is virtually free of lines and wrinkles. except for the gold-rimmed spectacles perched low on her nose (this visionary is apparently nearsighted). Shinoda could have stepped directly from a 19th century Meji print. Her surroundings convey a similar sense of old aesthetics, a retreat in the midst of a modern, frenetic city. The noise of the heavy traffic on a nearby elevated highway sounds at this height like distant surf. delicate bamboo shades filter the daylight. The color arrangement is restful: low ceilings of exposed wood, off-white walls, pastel rugs of blue, green and gray. It all feels so quintessentially Japanese that Shinoda’s opening remarks come as a surprise. She points out (through a translator) that she was not born in Japan at all but in Darien, Manchuria. Her father had been posted there to manage a tobacco company under the aegis of the occupying Japanese forces, which seized the region from Russia in 1905. She says,”People born in foreign places are very free in their thinking, not restricted” But since her family went back to Japan in 1915, when she was two, she could hardly remember much about a liberated childhood? She answers,”I think that if my mother had remained in Japan, she would have been an ordinary Japanese housewife. Going to Manchuria, she was able to assert her own personality, and that left its mark on me.” Evidently so. She wears her obi low on the hips, masculine style. The Porcelain aloofness she displays in photographs shatters in person. Her speech is forceful, her expression animated and her laugh both throaty and infectious. The hand she brings to her mouth to cover her amusement (a traditional female gesture of modesty) does not stand a chance. Her father also made a strong impression on the fifth of his seven children:”He came from a very old family, and he was quite strict in some ways and quite liberal in others.” He owned one of the first three bicycles ever imported to Japan and tinkered with it constantly He also decided that his little daughter would undergo rigorous training in a procrustean antiquity. “I was forced to study from age six on to learn calligraphy,” Shinoda says, The young girl dutifully memorized and copied the accepted models. In one sense, her father had pushed her in a promising direction, one of the few professional fields in Japan open to females. Included among the ancient terms that had evolved around calligraphy was onnade, or woman's writing. Heresy lay ahead. By the time she was 15, she had already been through nine years of intensive discipline, “I got tired of it and decided to try my own style. My father always scolded me for being naughty and departing from the traditional way, but I had to do it.” She produces a brush and a piece of paper to demonstrate the nature of her rebellion. “This is kawa, the accepted calligraphic character for river,” she says, deftly sketching three short vertical strokes. “But I wanted to use more than three lines to show the force of the river.” Her brush flows across the white page, leaving a recognizable river behind, also flowing.” The simple kawa in the traditional language was not enough for me. I wanted to find a new symbol to express the word river.” Her conviction grew that ink could convey the ineffable, the feeling, "as she says, of wind blowing softly.” Another demonstration. She goes to the sliding wooden door of an anteroom and disappears in back of it; the only trace of her is a triangular swatch of the right sleeve of her kimono, which she has arranged for that purpose. A realization dawns. The task of this artist is to paint that three sided pattern so that the invisible woman attached to it will be manifest to all viewers. Gen, painted especially for TIME, shows Shinoda’s theory in practice. She calls the work “my conception of Japan in visual terms.” A dark swath at the left, punctuated by red, stands for history. In the center sits a Chinese character gen, which means in the present or actuality. A blank pattern at the right suggests an unknown future. Once out of school, Shinoda struck off on a path significantly at odds with her culture. She recognized marriage for what it could mean to her career (“a restriction”) and decided against it. There was a living to be earned by doing traditional calligraphy:she used her free time to paint her variations. In 1940 a Tokyo gallery exhibited her work. (Fourteen years would pass before she got a second show.)War came, and bad times for nearly everyone, including the aspiring artist , who retreated to a rural area near Mount Fuji and traded her kimonos for eggs. In 1954 Shinoda’s work was included in a group exhibit at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art. Two years later, she overcame bureaucratic obstacles to visit the U.S.. Unmarried Japanese women are allowed visas for only three months, patiently applying for two-month extensions, one at a time, Shinoda managed to travel the country for two years. She pulls out a scrapbook from this period. Leafing through it, she suddenly raises a hand and touches her cheek:”How young I looked!” An inspection is called for. The woman in the grainy, yellowing newspaper photograph could easily be the on e sitting in this room. Told this, she nods and smiles. No translation necessary. Her sojourn in the U.S. proved to be crucial in the recognition and development of Shinoda’s art. Celebrities such as actor Charles Laughton and John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet bought her paintings and spread the good word. She also saw the works of the abstract expressionists, then the rage of the New York City art world, and realized that these Western artists, coming out of an utterly different tradition, were struggling toward the same goal that had obsessed her. Once she was back home, her work slowly made her famous. Although Shinoda has used many materials (fabric, stainless steel, ceramics, cement), brush and ink remain her principal means of expression. She had said, “As long as I am devoted to the creation of new forms, I can draw even with muddy water.” Fortunately, she does not have to. She points with evident pride to her ink stone, a velvety black slab of rock, with an indented basin, that is roughly a foot across and two feet long. It is more than 300 years old. Every working morning, Shinoda pours about a third of a pint of water into it, then selects an ink stick from her extensive collection, some dating back to China’s Ming dynasty. Pressing stick against stone, she begins rubbing. Slowly, the dried ink dissolves in the water and becomes ready for the brush. So two batches of sumi (India ink) are exactly alike; something old, something new. She uses color sparingly. Her clear preference is black and all its gradations. “In some paintings, sumi expresses blue better than blue.” It is time to go downstairs to the living quarters. A niece, divorced and her daughter,10,stay here with Shinoda; the artist who felt forced to renounce family and domesticity at the outset of her career seems welcome to it now. Sake is offered, poured into small cedar boxes and happily accepted. Hold carefully. Drink from a corner. Ambrosial. And just right for the surroundings and the hostess. A conservative renegade; a liberal traditionalist; a woman steeped in the male-dominated conventions that she consistently opposed. Her trail blazing accomplishments are analogous to Picasso’s. When she says goodbye, she bows. --by Paul Gray...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Series L, Variation 6, originates from the rare 1943 folio Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations. Published by Martin Fabiani, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Georges Duval, Paris, on February 27, 1943, this edition presents a suite of drawings that encapsulate Matisse’s lifelong pursuit of purity in draftsmanship and composition. Created under the artist’s supervision, each plate demonstrates Matisse’s mastery of contour and simplicity, transforming minimal gestures into harmonies of balance and grace that evoke both strength and serenity. Executed on velin pur fil paper, this lithograph measures 9.62 x 12.88 inches (24.44 x 32.72 cm). It is signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued, in accordance with the authorized 1943 publication format. Produced during wartime Paris under the direction of publisher Martin Fabiani, this folio embodies Matisse’s commitment to artistic renewal through discipline, sensitivity, and elegance. It remains a landmark in 20th-century printmaking, celebrated for the lyrical clarity and modernity of its graphic vision. Artwork Details: Artist: After Henri Matisse (1869–1954) Title: Series L, Variation 6, from Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations, 1943 Medium: Lithograph on velin pur fil paper Dimensions: Paper size 9.62 x 12.88 inches (24.44 x 32.72 cm) Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Date: 1943 Publisher: Martin Fabiani, Editeur, Paris Printer: Georges Duval, Paris Catalogue raisonne reference: Duthuit, Claude. Henri Matisse: Catalogue raisonne des ouvrages illustres. Editions Claude Duthuit, Paris, 1988, illustration 9 Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the 1943 folio Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations, published by Martin Fabiani, Editeur, Paris Notes: Excerpted from the 1943 folio (translated from French): "Finished printing in Paris, on February 27, 1943, at the expense of Martin Fabiani, publisher, with the help of Roger Lacouriere. Henri Matisse’s 'Themes and Variations' were printed by G. Duval and the preface of Aragon, printed by Fequet et Baudier. Justification of the draw—This folio has been printed in CML examples, all numbered, namely: X examples on Imperial Japan, numbered from I to X, signed by the artist; XX examples on Velin d’Arches, numbered from II to XXX, signed by the artist; and CMXX examples on Velin pur fil, numbered from XXXI to CML." About the Artist: Henri Matisse (1869–1954) was a French painter, draughtsman, sculptor, and printmaker whose bold use of color, fluid line, and decorative brilliance helped define modernism and Fauvism. Born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Matisse trained at the Academie Julian and later in Paris, where his expressive palette and relaxed compositions challenged conventions of light and form. Alongside his contemporary and friendly rival Pablo Picasso, Matisse reshaped the course of 20th-century art, each artist pushing the other toward greater innovation and emotional depth. Over his career, he worked across a wide array of media—painting, cut-outs, printmaking, sculpture, and interior design—always emphasizing harmony, balance, and visual poetry. His works are in the permanent collections of leading museums globally, including the Musee d'Orsay, MoMA, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou. The highest price ever paid for a Matisse artwork is approximately $80.75 million USD, achieved in 2018 at Christie's New York for Odalisque Couchee aux Magnolias (1923). Henri Matisse lithograph, Matisse Series L Variation 6, Matisse Dessins Themes et Variations, Matisse 1943...

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