During the next decade Matisse etched a few plates but not until 1922 does he seem to have resumed working on stone. Whilst the lithographs of 1906 and 1914 have more in common with his drawings than his paintings, those of the 1920s are directly associated with his work in painting. Some, such as Odalisque a la Culotte rayée, refletée dans la glace (lot 73) actually duplicate a painting, though in reverse. He widened the scope of the medium; figures are put into settings, sometimes they are clothed. Occasionally the sinuous motifs formed by the accessories, background and figure merge into one fluid pattern, as in Arabesque (lot 76). Matisse exploited every effect possible in lithography, from the deepest black to luminous effects in patterned fabrics and the modelling of flesh. One of the highpoints of this period, indeed of his career as a printmaker, was the series of seated figures of 1925, of which Odalisque a la Coupe de Fruits (lot 43) is one.

As the decade wore on Matisse began indulging his love of the Orient. The atmosphere became scented and the setting exotic. He delighted in playing off the curves of his model against an austerely striped background or enveloping her in luxurious drapes; in emphasizing the softness of her body seen through diaphanous layers and in expressing the glint of jewels. His models are transformed into the inhabitants of a harem. Hindou a la jupe de tulle and La Persane (lots 13 and 7 respectively) are amongst the finest examples of this group, both realizing all the modulated luminosity of a charcoal drawing.

Most of the lithographs of 1927 are devoted to a new subject for Matisse – the ballet dancer – inspired perhaps by his renewed contact with Diaghilev. In this series a ballerina is conventionally costumed, and is drawn standing, seated or reclining, but, curiously, never dancing or practicing at the bar. He suggests the movement of his dancer by showing her in moments of repose between movements. In Danseuse reflétée dans la glace (lot 19) she rests arching her back, studying her reflection in the glass. Her tutu flutters from past movement and her feet are poised to take off again.

Matisse’s models were always carefully chosen local girls, some of whom we know, others who remain anonymous. They were very much twentieth century girls, even when dressed up in the finery of the odalisque. Wearing fresh summer dresses, they are portrayed sleeping, reading or sunk in thought. Usually they are posed in the artist’s rooms, but occasionally they sit on a balcony or venture right out into the open air. His favourite amongst all was Henriette Darricarère and Matisse worked with her in an intense collaboration that produced many charcoal drawings, prints, paintings and a major sculpture, in a project lasting from 1922 to 1929. She is present throughout this collection, for example in Jeune fille au col, Visage de profil, Jeune fille assise and Petite liseuse (lots 54, 79, 81, and 51 respectively).

The twenty or so lithographs of 1929 cover subjects which appear in the paintings of the year before. More than half of them are studies of the model seen from various angles reclining on a couch surrounded by patterned textiles, flowers, the familiar brass stove and the antique table – see Nue renversée pres d’une table Louis XV (lot 46). The most remarkable are without question the vivid, sharply modelled compositions in which details are more elaborately rendered than in any other mature works of Matisse. Le renard blanc (lot 91), is notable for its almost photographic effect of light, colour and texture but, on close inspection, one finds that the detail has been suggested with extraordinary economy.