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PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN COLLECTION

Henri Matisse
TÊTE DE FEMME (LORETTE)
Estimate
Irrevocable Bids
Lots with this symbol indicate that a party has provided Sotheby’s with an irrevocable bid on the lot that will be executed during the sale at a value that ensures that the lot will sell. The irrevocable bidder, who may bid in excess of the irrevocable bid, will be compensated based on the final hammer price in the event he or she is not the successful bidder or may receive a fixed fee in the event he or she is the successful bidder. If the irrevocable bidder is the successful bidder, the fixed fee (if applicable) for providing the irrevocable bid may be netted against the irrevocable bidder’s obligation to pay the full purchase price for the lot and the purchase price reported for the lot shall be net of such fixed fee. If the irrevocable bid is not secured until after the printing of the auction catalogue, a pre-lot announcement will be made indicating that there is an irrevocable bid on the lot. If the irrevocable bidder is advising anyone with respect to the lot, Sotheby’s requires the irrevocable bidder to disclose his or her financial interest in the lot. If an agent is advising you or bidding on your behalf with respect to a lot identified as being subject to an irrevocable bid, you should request that the agent disclose whether or not he or she has a financial interest in the lot.
Guaranteed Property
Guaranteed Property. The seller of lots with this symbol has been guaranteed a minimum price from one auction or a series of auctions. If every lot in a catalogue is guaranteed, the Conditions of Sale will so state and this symbol will not be used for each lot.
1,200,000 — 1,800,000
USD
LOT SOLD. 2,375,000 USD
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17

PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN COLLECTION

Henri Matisse
TÊTE DE FEMME (LORETTE)
Estimate
Irrevocable Bids
Lots with this symbol indicate that a party has provided Sotheby’s with an irrevocable bid on the lot that will be executed during the sale at a value that ensures that the lot will sell. The irrevocable bidder, who may bid in excess of the irrevocable bid, will be compensated based on the final hammer price in the event he or she is not the successful bidder or may receive a fixed fee in the event he or she is the successful bidder. If the irrevocable bidder is the successful bidder, the fixed fee (if applicable) for providing the irrevocable bid may be netted against the irrevocable bidder’s obligation to pay the full purchase price for the lot and the purchase price reported for the lot shall be net of such fixed fee. If the irrevocable bid is not secured until after the printing of the auction catalogue, a pre-lot announcement will be made indicating that there is an irrevocable bid on the lot. If the irrevocable bidder is advising anyone with respect to the lot, Sotheby’s requires the irrevocable bidder to disclose his or her financial interest in the lot. If an agent is advising you or bidding on your behalf with respect to a lot identified as being subject to an irrevocable bid, you should request that the agent disclose whether or not he or she has a financial interest in the lot.
Guaranteed Property
Guaranteed Property. The seller of lots with this symbol has been guaranteed a minimum price from one auction or a series of auctions. If every lot in a catalogue is guaranteed, the Conditions of Sale will so state and this symbol will not be used for each lot.
1,200,000 — 1,800,000
USD
LOT SOLD. 2,375,000 USD
JUMP TO LOT

Details & Cataloguing

Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale

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New York

Henri Matisse
1869 - 1954
TÊTE DE FEMME (LORETTE)
Signed Henri Matisse (upper right)
Oil on panel
8 5/8 by 6 1/8 in.
21.9 by 15.5 cm
Painted in 1916.
Read Condition Report Read Condition Report

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Wanda de Guébriant.

Provenance

Paul Guillaume, Paris

M. Knoedler & Co., New York (acquired from the above in 1928)

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, New York (acquired from the above in 1928)

Mr. & Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III, New York (by descent from the above)

John T. Dorrance, Jr., Pennsylvania (sold: Sotheby's, New York, October 18, 1989, lot 42)

Acquired at the above sale

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Henri Matisse, 1931, no. 34

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Henri Matisse, 1931, no. 38, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Girl in a Turban)

Providence, Rhode Island School of Design, Henri Matisse, 1931, no. 17

Literature

Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Matisse: His Art and His Public, New York, 1951, illustrated p. 414 (titled Femme au turban)

Mario Luzzi & Massimo Carra, L'Opera di Matisse dalla rivolta 'fauve' all'intimismo 1904-1928, Milan, 1971, no. 222, illustrated p. 95 (titled Donna con turbante)

Catalogue Note

Models were hard to come by in World War I Paris. However, at the recommendation of fellow artist Georgette Sembat, Matisse was introduced to an Italian woman named Lorette. She began to model for him in late 1916 and in the course of their year-long association she would feature in some fifty canvases. Tête de femme (Lorette) dates from the first few months of Lorette and Matisse's association. Over the course of their time together, Lorette would dramatically influence the artist's work. 

"It was Lorette who liberated (or was liberated by) Matisse," writes Hilary Spurling, "Together they embarked on a series of experiments that would open up a new direction in his work for another decade or more" (H. Spurling, Matisse the Master. A Life of Henri Matisse: The Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954, New York, 2005, p. 198). Lorette was playful in the studio, donning and removing various costumes and accouterments, assuming varied poses and playing with different props. "...He responded to Lorette's expert lead as spontaneously as a dancer taking to the floor. She released in him an observant gaiety and speedy, casual attack suppressed in years of strenuous sacrificial effort. He painted her energetically from odd angles and in exotic outfits, but mostly he returned to her simplest post, seating her facing him in a plain, long sleeved top and improvising endlessly inventive rhythmic variations on the central them of her strong features, heart-shaped face and the black ropes of her hair" (ibid., pp. 200-01).

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Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale

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