Henri MATISSE (1869-1954) Study for the Virgin "veiled head" (for the chapel in Vence). 1950/1951 Lithograph on china paper applied to vellum Chine paper: H. 32 cm - L. 24.4 cm - Sheet: H. 49 cm - L. 37.6 cm AC Artist's proof signed and numbered 8/15, dedicated to Sister Claire of the Avignon Red Cross dispensary, on behalf of her pupil Denise Arokas, dated 25/11 51 Reference: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre gravé de H. Matisse by Marguerite Duthuit- Matisse et Claude Duthuit, Paris 1983. Cf. Duthuit-Matisse 641 Preservation: freckle or stain on the nose of the Virgin and other minute pitting in the lower right-hand corner. Margins yellowed with some foxing and a handling mark in the lower margin. It would appear that in the dedication, the "S" in "Arokas" has been added with a different pencil. Denise Arokas was engaged between 1951 and 1952 to be the lady-in-waiting of the painter Matisse, who was 81 at the time. She became one of his last models. In 1953, she came into contact with the Parisian world, modelling for some of the greatest couturiers.