Portrait de Micheline (1939)

Henri Matisse is the artist behind "Portrait de Micheline", dated 1939. Background on Drawings: Artists have long used drawings to plan paintings, sculptures, and buildings, so a sketch can show how an idea developed. Because line carries so much of the effect, drawings tend to reward close looking at the quality of the mark. Historical background, 1939: Posters, magazines, and illustrated books were major ways for the public to meet new art and design. Dada and Surrealism followed the First World War, the Bauhaus school was founded in 1919, and Art Deco became the fashionable decorative style of the 1920s and 1930s. The catalogue places it in Drawings. The format is portrait.

Buying "Portrait de Micheline" means getting a digital file, not a physical print: Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI, delivered by email once payment is confirmed. A 300 DPI file is intended for printing at home or at a local print shop, where you can choose a matte, satin, or fine-art paper to suit the room. A portrait format suits narrow wall spaces, hallways, and the area beside a door or window. A simple frame with a mat often helps an image settle comfortably into a room. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size. Matte and fine-art papers reduce glare in bright rooms, while glossy papers give stronger contrast and deeper blacks. Choosing a standard frame size and printing to fit it often saves the cost of custom framing.

French, 1869–1954

If you like the visual language of Henri Matisse, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.