Henri Matisse

Michael & Sarah Stein, Paris & San Francisco (acquired directly from the artist)
Mr & Mrs Tevis Jacobs, San Francisco (acquired from the above; sale: Sotheby's, New York, 9th November 2000, lot 51)
Purchased at the above sale by the late owner

New York, Museum of Modern Art; The Cleveland Museum of Art; The Art Institute of Chicago & San Francisco Museum of Art, Matisse, 1952, no. 14
San Francisco Museum of Art, Les Fauves, 1953
San Francisco Museum of Art; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada; Winnipeg Art Museum; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; Vancouver Art Gallery; Santa Barbara Museum of Fine Art; Pasadena Art Museum & Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, The Sam and Ayala Zacks Collection, 1957
San Francisco Museum of Art, Marquet, 1958
San Francisco Museum of Art, The Stein Collection, 1962
San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1969 (on loan)
Berkeley, University Art Museum, Excellence: Art from the University Community, 1970-71, no. 490
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, La passion du dessin. Collection Jan et Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2002, no. 147, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand-Palais, Matisse/Picasso, 2002-03, no. 33, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Vienna, Albertina Museum, Goya bis Picasso. Meisterwerke der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2005, no. 110, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Dusseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Henri Matisse, Figur Farbe Raum, 2005-06, no. 36, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
MunMunich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Das Ewige Auge - Von Rembrandt bis Picasso. Meisterwerke der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2007, no. 148, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art, The Steins Collect, Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde, 2011, no. 168, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Vienna, Albertina Museum, Matisse and the Fauves, 2013-14, no. 123, illustrated in the catalogue

Matisse: œuvres de Henri Matisse (1869-1954) (exhibition catalogue), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1979, illustrated in a photograph of Michael and Sarah Stein's apartment in Paris p. 33
Henri Matisse. A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1992, illustrated in a photograph of Michael and Sarah Stein's apartment in Paris p. 137
Pierre Schneider, Matisse, Paris, 2002, illustrated in colour p. 11

Executed on cream wove paper, laid down on a sheet of restorer's paper, and t-hinged to some restorer's paper extensions along the upper edge. The sheet is slightly time-stained, the upper edge is deckled, and there is some staining to all four edges due to previous mounting as well as some possible repaired tears. There are artist's pinholes to the lower left, lower right and upper right corners. There are some small paper losses to the left part of the upper edge, a repaired tear to the right part of the upper edge and a small repaired tear to the extreme right edge below centre. There are a few fine tears which have been repaired to the left part of the lower edge and a further few in places along the right edge, none of which are not visible when framed. There are a few spots of foxing and very fine creases in places. Otherwise, this work is in good overall condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

‘Suppose I want to paint a woman’s body. First of all, I imbue it with grace and charm, but I know that I must give it something more. I will condense the meaning of this body by seeking its essential lines’
Henri Matisse, translated in Jack Flam, Matisse on Art, Berkeley & LA, 1995, pp. 38-39

Probably executed around the same time as the seminal and long-celebrated Nu bleu (Souvenir de Biskra), the present work is one of the most expressive drawings of Matisse's Fauve period. The work is exceptional for its use of vivid pastel strokes that nearly conceal the under-drawing. This earlier sketch lingers in the background as a demonstration of the artist’s relentless creativity. 1906 also marks the year in which ‘the figure’ became fundamental to Matisse’s painting and sculpture. In 1908, the artist would note in an essay ‘what interests me most is neither still life not landscape but the human figure - it is that which best permits me to express my so-to-speak religious feelings towards life’ (Henri Matisse, translated in Jack Flam, Matisse on Art, Berkeley & LA, 1995, p. 41.)

Nu assis has a distinguished provenance, as it was acquired directly from the artist by Sarah and Michael Stein (the brother of the renowned Cubist collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein). It was Sarah Stein who first convinced the family to take an interest in Matisse, after seeing his celebrated oil Femme au chapeau in the Salon d'Automne of 1905. The two developed a close friendship, and Matisse was to note that 'Madame Michael Stein, whom Gertrude Stein neglects to mention, was the really intelligently sensitive member of the family. Leo Stein thought very highly of her because she possessed a sensibility which awakened the same thing in himself' (quoted in Lucile M. Golson, 'The Michael Steins of San Francisco: Art Patrons and Collectors' in Four Americans in Paris (exhibition catalogue), Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1970, p. 35). The present work is visible in one of the few published photographs of the Stein's home in Paris.