- 17
Henri Matisse
Description
- Henri Matisse
- Nu debout
- signed H. Matisse (lower left)
- charcoal and estompe on paper
- 63.5 by 48.3cm.
- 25 by 19in.
Provenance
Galerie Lumley Cazalet, London (acquired by 1981)
Galerie Beyeler, Basel
Acquired from the above by the late owner in June 1984
Exhibited
Andros, Fondation Basil et Elise Goulandris, Henri Matisse, 1988, illustrated in the catalogue
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Linie, Licht und Schatten. Meisterzeichnungen und Skulpturen der Sammlung Jan und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 1999, no. 144, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The Timeless Eye. Master Drawings from the Jan and Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski Collection,1999, no. 174, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Miradas sin Tiempo. Dibujos, Pinturas y Esculturas de la Coleccion Jan y Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2000, no. 159, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, La Passion du Dessin. Collection Jan et Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2002, no. 148, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Matisse/Picasso, 2002-03, no. 112, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Matisse 1917-1941, 2009, no. 54, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Literature
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."
Catalogue Note
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s Matisse drew obsessively, producing numerous works on paper using a variety of materials, but favouring two in particular – charcoal and ink. Ink, applied using either a brush or pen, was used to depict a variety of subjects from nudes and portraits to still-lifes, while charcoal was almost exclusively employed to depict the female figure. Matisse fully exploited the qualities of both techniques and produced many remarkable images; however it was with charcoal created the definitive works on paper of his career (fig. 1). Dissimilar though they were, these two techniques were inter-related in practice. In his article Notes d’un peintre sur son dessin published in 1939, Matisse described the advantages of these different media: ‘the [ink] drawings are always preceded by studies made in a less rigorous medium than pure line, such as charcoal or stump drawing, which allows me to consider simultaneously the character of the model, her human expression, the quality of surrounding light, the atmosphere and all that can only be expressed by drawing’. In the charcoal drawings he established ‘the lines or the special values distributed over the whole canvas or paper and which forms its orchestration, its architecture’ (quoted in Jack Flam (ed.), Matisse on Art, Berkeley, 1995, pp. 130-132).