Henri Matisse

Estimate

350,000 - 450,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

Henri Matisse
NU AU BRAS LEVÉS
Signed Henri Matisse (lower right)
Charcoal on paper
12 3/8 by 18 7/8 in.
31.5 by 48 cm

Provenance

P. N. Matisse Gallery, Beverly Hills
Acquired from the above by the present owner in May, 1965

Exhibited

Los Angeles, UCLA; Art Institute of Chicago; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Matisse Retrospective, no 168, illustrated p. 50
San Francisco, John Berggruen Gallery, Henri Matisse: An Exhibition of Selected Works in Homage to Frank Perls, no. 10

Literature

Waldemar George, "Dessins d' Henri Matisse", Editions des Quatre Chemins, Paris, 1925, illustrated pl. 24

Catalogue Note

The theme of the nude is one which fascinated Matisse thoughout his life. From as early as his "fauve" period, Matisse presented the female form using his own idiom. However, it was during the 1920s, when the artist explored his exotic Odalisques, that he truly seduced the viewer's gaze upon his carnal depictions of idealized beauty. Matisse painted, sculpted, drew and printed most of his masterpieces at this juncture of his celebrated career.

The present work is executed in charcoal and estompe, a technique which Matisse began using in the early 1920s and applied primarily to his portraiture. In his article Notes d'un peintre sur son dessin, published in 1939, Matisse described the advantages of this medium which allowed him "to consider simultaneously the character of the model, the human expression, the quality of surrounding light, atmosphere and all that can only be expressed by drawing" (John Elderfield, The Drawings of Matisse, London, 1984, p. 84).

Fig. 1 Henri Matisse, Nu au coussin bleu, 1924, Mr. and Mrs. Philip F. Brody Collection, Los Angeles

Fig. 2 Henri Matisse, Nu au coussin bleu à côte d'une cheminée, 1925, lithograph printed in black, The Museum of Modern Art, New York [Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (by exchange)]

Fig. 3 Henri Matisse, Grand nu assis, 1922-29, bronze, The Museum of Modern Art, New York