Matisse, Henri

in which he gives Amélie reports of work in progress, including Paysage vu d’une fenêtre and others from the "Moroccan Triptych", discussing his patrons and dealers, Shchukin, Morozov, Sembat, Kritchevsky and Bertheim, which painting is for which potential purchaser, reporting Marcel Sembat’s purchase of "une marocaine toile de 5 pour 1000f”, and the sale by Bernheim of "la Zora en jaune 6000f à un anglais", complaining about the difficulty of securing the services of models in Tangiers, helped by Hamido ("un arabe qui à été employé à l’hotel comme portier"),  the vicissitudes experienced during their various sittings and the weather, discussing his fellow artists and acquaintances, including Olga Meerson, reporting meetings with and letters from Marquet, Roger Fry, Tavarès, Terrus, Camoin, Druet, Schroeter and others, frequently urging Amélie to join him in Tangiers, his children Marguerite, Jean and Pierre,

"...j’ai en train une toile qui va bien c’est la négresse [“Fatma”] c’est pour Bernheim ou Schoukin…en somme ici depuis 3 semaines de séjour j’ai fait un bon paysage de 50 [centimètres] (Morosoff) un autre que je termine en chambre pour le même...et une mauresque pour Stsch[oukin] (bonne) et une autre en train qui va bien et de nombreux dessins. Presque tous les jours le matin en sortant d’une séance à midi je faisais 2 ou 3 croquis...L’après midi j’ai commencé un des paysage de Morosoff. C’est ma fenêtre ouverte, un peu les dessins que tu a vu déjà. J’ai deux bouquets placés sur une fenêtre--un vert de feuilles de géranium odorant citronelle… avec des petts chrysanthèmes blancs…"



c.70 pages, 4to and 8vo, containing fifteen ink sketches in all, eleven connected with known paintings and four for other scenes or objects, mainly Tangiers, October-November 1912 (16 October-5 November 1912, where dated), many undated ("lundi 7h½ soir", "mardi 8h matin", etc), with one autograph copy of a letter from 26 February 1912, one evidently from February 1913, and 1 each from Toulouse and Marseilles, five letters incomplete or torn, lacking endings and signatures

J. Cowart, P. Schneider et al, Matisse in Morocco. The Paintings and Drawings 1912-1913, exhibition catalogue for the Museum of Modern Art (1990); H. Spurling, Matisse the Master, A Life of Henri Matisse: The Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954, [volume 2 of the biography], (2005)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"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."

This is an important series of letters by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) dating from a crucial period in the great French master’s career.  His two visits painting in Morocco brought forth a transformation in his work, informed by arab cultures, costumes, textures and the brilliant sunlight,   Matisse includes drawings within his letters to his wife Amélie back home in Paris, reporting progress on several works that are milestones in his development from the Fauvism of the 1900s into the colourful and decorative French Expressionism of his maturity.  These small drawings are essentially Matisse’s pictorial reports to his wife about his paintings, but they also sometimes represent work-in-progress in themselves.  They relate principally to the following paintings (references are to the 1990 exhibition Matisse in Morocco, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York:

Paysage vu d’une fenêtre (MiM 12, ex-Morosov, now in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow)

Porte de Casbah (MiM 14, now in the Pushkin Museum)

La mulâtresse Fatma (MiM 15, ex-Bernheim-Jeune, sold at Sotheby’s in 1993 for $14m)

Zorah debout (MiM 16, ex-Shchukin, now in the State Museum St Petersburg)

La petite mulâtresse  (MiM 17, ex-Sembat, now in the Musée de Grenoble)

Matisse’s sketch of Paysage vu d’une fenêtre is smaller (but more developed) than the contemporary vignette view drawn from his hotel room Vue de la fenêtre, Tanger I (MiM catalogue fig.44) and differs from the drawing Vue de la fenêtre, Tanger II (MiM 29). In one letter Matisse makes two tiny sketches for the vases and flowers found in the painting that are not seen in either of these drawings. For a related sketch, see the letter to Amélie sold in at Sotheby’s New York on 19 June 2015, lot 69.

There are also some interesting drawings here that we have not traced to any painting, notably an annotated drawing of the "Grand Socco" (the central marketplace in Tangiers).  Matisse illustrates and labels his view of the crowds across the street, coming out from market, adjacent to the Casbah ("Ce matin j’étais à un petit café au Grand Socco, près de la porte").  Another, in the same letter, shows a still-life arrangement of "2 grenadines et citron vert", noting that "il fait un effet superbe...c’est joli, a peindre".   

Matisse frequently reports on the sittings of his principal models, and the difficulty of securing their services.  Most often this was a mulatto women ("la négresse") whom he depicted as Fatma.  He thus describes the painting that became La mulâtresse Fatma as "c’est la négresse pour Bernheim ou Schoukine" (it was bought by the Bernheim gallery in 1913).  Matisse frequently refers to his assistant Hamido, who brought him Fatma and other models.