Henri Matisse Letter | 1949, on Nazi-looted art scandal, signed with extensive autograph corrections

A remarkable typed letter signed H. Matisse, dated November 22, 1949, with extensive red crayon and ink corrections in Matisse’s own hand. Very few Matisse letters survive, and fewer still show autograph markings of this kind.

In this letter Matisse addresses the scandal surrounding Martin Fabiani, the Paris dealer convicted for his role in the Nazi looted art trade. Fabiani had published Matisse’s Thèmes et Variations during the war, but in the postwar years his name became entangled with looting and corruption. Matisse distances himself with clarity, writing that he has had absolutely no notice from the Court and no information from any other source regarding the Fabiani affair. It is rare to see Matisse speak so directly about the political and ethical aftermath of the war.

He then turns to a separate matter: Draeger’s proposal to reproduce two of his paintings for medical advertising. Matisse asks whether the project has been carried out and what products were involved. The juxtaposition is striking. Here is Matisse in the late 1940s, navigating both the protection of his reputation in the wake of wartime scandals and the growing commercial appetite for his work.

What sets this letter apart is the presence of Matisse’s red crayon and ink corrections. Words are underlined, struck through and reshaped by the same hand that produced some of the most influential images of modern art. It is as close as one can come to seeing Matisse think on the page, balancing caution, clarity and precision at a moment when the art world was reckoning with questions of provenance, ethics and commercialisation.

Signed boldly H. Matisse. A rare and significant document, combining personal involvement in the Fabiani affair with direct commentary on the reproduction of his own art. Letters of this level, with strong content and visible autograph corrections, are collectors pieces of the highest order