This work is sold with a photo-certificate from Wanda de Guébriant, Paris 14–6-2001. Registered as No. H 257 in the archive of the artist.

Literature: “Henri Matisse. Dessins. Thèmes et Variations”, Theme O, 4th variation, Martin Fabiani éditeur, 1943. Provenance: Private collection, France. Provenance: Galerie Di Meo, Paris. Provenance: Private collection.

During 1941 and 1942, while he was convalescing in bed in the Hôtel Régina, Nice, Matisse executed a series of works entitled the Thèmes et variations. He would begin with a charcoal drawing his Thème and then explore Variations upon that theme. In the figure drawings in this series such as Thème O Variation 4, executed in 1942, he would work in front of the original model even in the later works, but would do so in a manner that felt more casual and spontaneous than in many of his earlier works.

The Thèmes et variations were in many ways the culmination of a lifetime of artistic exploration, hence Matisse's own comments to his son: 'For a year now I've been making an enormous effort in drawing. I say effort but that's a mistake, because what has occurred is a 'floraison' after fifty years of effort' (Matisse, quoted in J. Golding, 'Introduction,' pp. 10–18, J. Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, exh.cat., London & New York, 1985, p. 16). These works, which were published in a book with a long introduction by the poet Louis Aragon, had an overarching musical character, as is hinted at by the Variations of the title, and this musicality is also reflected in the elegant and atmospheric content of the drawings, as is clear in Thème O Variation 4.