Henri Matisse

Berggruen & Cie., Paris
José Luis and Beatriz Plaza, Caracas (acquired from the above on December 9, 1971 and sold: Sotheby's, London, December 8, 1997, lot 11)
Guggenheim Asher Associates, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The present drawing is related to the painting La France, which Matisse worked on between November 1-22, 1939 (fig. 1).  The model for the drawing was Tamara who began working with Matisse toward the end of 1939 while he was living at the Hôtel Régina in Nice.  "These drawings of 1937-39 were often specific preparations for paintings.  But they are realized entirely in their own terms, and without exception show Matisse's stunning mastery of this especially sensual medium.  The tonal gradations are extraordinarily subtle, yet appear to have been realized very spontaneously, and the keen sense of interchange and interaction between linear figure and ground adds tautness and intensity to their compositions...  At their best they are emotionally as well as technically rich and show us a more mortal Matisse than his line drawings do." (John Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, London, 1984, pp. 118-119)