Matisse, Henri. (1869-1954) Projet pour une Ceinture de Chasteté

Playful drawing of a chastity belt, with a brief autograph letter on the verso to his friend, writer and artist André Rouveyre.  2 pp, signed "HM." Undated, ca. 1945. 21 x 14 cm; 8.5 x 5.5 inches. Set in a double-sided frame under UV-Plexi. The artist has penned a sequence of ornamental designs, as well as an overall view of the belt, adding the texts "Projet pour une ceinture de chasteté  / je crois plus efficace celle de Cluny, et encore!" ["Project for a chastity belt / I think more efficient than that of Cluny, and more!"] and "a quoi revent les jeunes filles!" ["what young girls dream of!"]. The verso with an appropriately humorous letter to Rouveyre, concluding with the statement that "it is 4 in the morning - excuse the illegible scrawl."  In the years 1941-1954 Matisse engaged in a unique correspondence with André Rouveyre, the French satirical draughtsman and writer (1879-1962), in which his ongoing production and innovation are reflected and refracted. Matisse and Rouveyre