Lithographic poster to promote the Matisse exhibition at the Grand Palais in 1970.

This exhibition poster reproduces Nu Bleu XI, one of the most celebrated works from Henri Matisse’s cut‑out period, created during the final decade of his life. Issued for an exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris—a venue long associated with the nation’s most prestigious artistic surveys—the poster marks a pivotal moment when Matisse’s boldly abstracted cut‑outs were recognised not as afterthoughts but as central to his legacy.

In Nu Bleu XI, Matisse distilled the human figure to sweeping, rhythmic planes of blue and curving negative space, achieving a presence and vitality that rival traditional modelling with line and shade.

The cut‑outs were born of necessity—Matisse’s health declining, he “drew with scissors”—yet this constraint became the basis for some of the most original work of the 20th century.

The Grand Palais exhibition and its poster helped shift public and critical perception: these works were not late curiosities but a culmination of Matisse’s lifelong exploration of colour, pattern, and the body. While reproductions of the Blue Nudes are now ubiquitous, this original lithographic poster preserves the authoritative scale and clarity of Matisse’s vision.