Lot 228
  • 228

HENRI MATISSE | Deux femmes lisant

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Henri Matisse
  • Deux femmes lisant
  • Signed H. Matisse and dated mai 47 (lower right)
  • Pen and ink on paper
  • 15 by 22 in.
  • 38.1 by 55.8 cm
  • Executed in May 1947.

Provenance

Galerie Maeght, Paris
Acquired from the above circa 1950s

Condition

The work is in excellent condition. Executed on cream wove paper. The edges of the sheet are deckled. The sheet is t-hinged to a mount in the upper right and upper left corners of its verso. The medium is well-preserved. The work is very slightly time stained overall.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Between 1946 and 1948, Matisse concentrated on a series of large-scale drawings that closely relate to paintings of the same period. The present work is a wonderful example from this series, serving as a study for Deux fillettes, fond jaune et rouge, in the collection of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia (see fig. 1). While immersed in an exploration of color through his cut outs, Matisse simultaneously reached a new level of intensity in his investigation of positive and negative space through drawing. Capturing the immediate world around him in his bedridden state, Matisse "arranged for the array of objects that had followed him from studio to studio for more than forty years to be brought from Nice. These were simple, commonplace objects of no particular value, sometimes exotic artefacts he had brought back from his journeys to Morocco or Algeria, items one could see in any bourgeois household of the time: a water jug, a coffee pot, an Alsatian wine glass, brightly patterned fabrics, a wrought-iron pedestal table ashtrays, shells, Fez pottery, Chinese porcelain, English china" (Marie-France Boyer, Matisse at Villa Le Rêve, 1943-1948, London, 2004, p. 9).

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