Henri Matisse

Estate of the artist

Private Collection, France (by descent from the above)

Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York (acquired from the above)

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1993

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down. The work is attached to the mount at the reverse of the top two edges. The edges are slightly irregular, not visible when framed. There is some light time-staining to the sheet and a few scattered minor spots of foxing, mostly towards the lower part of the sheet, as visible in the catalogue illustration. This work is in good condition. Colours: In comparison to the printed catalogue illustration, both the charcoal and the paper have a slightly less warm tonality in the original.
"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."

A combination of graceful, restrained lines and sensuously blended charcoal, Femme allongée is a wonderful example of Matisse’s mature drawing style. Throughout the 1930s Matisse drew extensively, developing the estompe technique. This use of charcoal enabled Matisse to imbue his works with a masterful blend of smoky shadow and tremulous luminosity. The technique freed Matisse from the rigours of strict representation, creating a looser physicality that became an expression of feeling. He commented that for him drawing did ‘not depend on forms being copied exactly as they are in nature or on the patient assembling of exact details, but on the profound feeling of the artist before the objects that he has chosen, on which his attention is focussed, and whose spirit he has penetrated’ (quoted in Jack Flam (ed.), Matisse on Art, Berkeley, 1995, p. 179).

In the present work Matisse uses this technique to remarkable effect. The figure of the women is loosely sketched with bold, emphatic lines that are then given a dense materiality through the use of smudged charcoal. The emphasis is placed very firmly on the woman’s body; her figure fills the sheet and although the lines beneath her head hint at furnishings, the background remains empty. This interplay between the white space of the sheet and the drawn lines was one that preoccupied Matisse greatly, and was something he often addressed in his theoretical writings at this time. He described the role of his models in relation to this, explaining that they were ‘never just “extras” in an interior. They are the principal theme of my work… The emotional interest aroused in me by them does not appear particularly in the representation of their bodies, but often rather in the lines or special values distributed over the whole canvas or paper, which form its complete orchestration, its architecture’ (quoted in J. Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, London, 1984, p. 117).

In the 1930s drawing took on a new significance in Matisse’s œuvre, as John Elderfield explains ‘according to Lydia Delectorskaya (who became his principal model, later housekeeper and secretary, in 1935), Matisse, by the mid 1930s, considered line drawing a totally independent form of expression. He would paint in the mornings and draw in the afternoons. The drawing “prolonged” each morning’s painting just as much as it prepared for the next day’s session at the easel’ (J. Elderfield, ibid., pp. 117-118). Towards the end of the decade this process became increasingly centred on the proliferation of drawings and paintings Matisse made of Lydia Delectorskaya and her friend Hélène Galitzine who were Matisse’s preferred models of the period. Delectorskaya became Matisse’s studio model in 1935, and her arrival coincided with a creative revival for Matisse, inspiring some of his most important paintings. In 1936 this creativity manifested in a series of works on the subject of a reclining figure. Matisse began in February with a number of drawings in preparation for the painting Faune et verdure and the theme continued to occupy him throughout the year. The progression of the works reflects Matisse’s constant experimentation, arranging his models in subtly different postures, some clothed, others nude (figs. 1 & 2) or draped with loose sheets of material that, particularly in drawings such as the present work, allowed him to make full play of the nuances of the estompe technique. Arguably, it was this discovery – contrasting angular lines with more subtle variations of light and shade – that led Matisse to the creation in the late 1930s of the works that marked the height of his innovation in this medium.