The son of wealthy grain merchants, Henri Matisse attended law school before discovering art and enrolling at the tradition-bound Académie Julian and then the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. From those conservative roots grew radical experimentation as Mattise encountered the work of Vincent van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists. After a 1904 trip to the south of France where the quality of the sunlight dazzled him, Matisse wholly redirected his aesthetics. In the 1905 Paris Salon d’Automne, Matisse exhibited vibrant, unnaturally colored works that caught the eye of critics, one of whom labeled him a fauve, or wild beast, as well as the attention of avant-garde artists and patrons, such the American writer Gertrude Stein. It was Stein who introduced Matisse to Picasso – the greatest artistic rivalry of the 20th century – and who acquired his early masterwork Le Bonheur de vivre, 1906, which is now in the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. In 1917, the artist relocated to Nice, where the light and climate were agreeable. His work from this so-called Riviera period of the 1920s focused on interiors and portraits, though Matisse created works in every medium, from lithography to sculpture. In the 1930s he moved to Vence, where he created the glass windows and the decorations of the Chapelle du Rosaire. During the last years of his life Matisse’s health declined and he lived a rather isolated existence. Having lost much of his dexterity, Matisse began series of paper cut outs for which he cut painted sheets of paper to compose collages of varied scale, some quite large. The ever-prolific artists worked well into his last years, until his death in 1954 at the age of 84. Matisse’s works can be found in the collections of prominent, notably the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the State Hermitage Museum, in St Petersburg, Russia; the Kunstmuseum, Bern; and the Musée Matisse, Nice. For those who collect Matisse, the market is reliably strong. According to Sotheby’s Mei Moses, the average compound annual return for Henri Matisse resold at auction between 2003 and 2017 was 4.8%, with 78.5% of 200 such works increased in value.

Henri Matisse

Modern Day Auction

Property from an Esteemed Private Collection

Property from an Esteemed Private Collection Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954 Pont de Seine oil on canvas 10 ⅛ by 12 ¾ in. 25.7 by 32.4 cm. Executed in 1897. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Georges Matisse.

pont de seine

Property from a Private Collection Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954 Tête signed H. Matisse (lower right) black crayon on paper 9 by 11 ⅞ in. 22.8 by 30.2 cm. Executed circa 1940. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Georges Matisse.

tête

Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954 Tête de fillette (Marguerite) inscribed Henri Matisse and with the foundry mark A. Bingen et Costenoble Fondeurs. Paris. and numbered 1/10 bronze height: 6 ¼ in. 16 cm. Conceived in Collioure in 1906; this example cast circa 1908 as number 1 from an edition of 11.

View 1 of Lot 286: Tête de fillette (Marguerite)

tête de fillette (marguerite)

Modern Evening Auction

Shaping Modernity: Property from a Private American Collection

Shaping Modernity: Property from a Private American Collection Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) La Jetée à Collioure signed Henri. Matisse (lower right) oil on canvas 21 ¼ by 25 ½ in. 54 by 64.8 cm. Executed in 1907. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Georges Matisse.

View 1 of Lot 115: La Jetée à Collioure

la jetée à collioure

Property from an Important Private Collection

Property from an Important Private Collection Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954 Femme assise au collier signed Henri Matisse, dated 8/42 and dedicated À Monsieur Pierre Cailler cordialement (lower right) pen and ink on paper 20 ¾ by 16 in. 52.7 by 40.6 cm. Executed in August 1942. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the late Madame Marguerite Duthuit-Matisse.

View 1 of Lot 283: Femme assise au collier

femme assise au collier

Figure Reading, in front of Moucharaby [Figure lisant, fond moucharabieh], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=henri+matisse&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henri Matisse</a>, 1929.<ul><li>Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954).&nbsp;</li><li>Etching on chine appliqué on Wove paper.</li><li>Hand signed and inscribed.</li><li>Part of an edition of 15.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>

Figure Reading, in Front of Moucharaby | Figure Lisant, Fond Moucharabieh

Le Poème Pulvérisé (The Scattered Poem), <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Matisse&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matisse</a> and <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ren%C3%A9+Char&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Char</a>.<ul><li>Henri Matisse (French, 1869-</li><li>René Char (French, 1907-1988).</li><li>Paris: Fontaine, 1947.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>One of the 65 deluxe copies on Johannot laid paper, this being xxxiii.</li><li>Linocut frontispiece, signed in pencil by Matisse.</li><li>Text in French.</li><li>Signed by René Char in blue in ink on the justification, partially uncut.</li><li>Original printed wrappers.</li></ul> René Char approached Matisse in the spring of 1946 to create a frontispiece for this collection of poetry. The publisher initially misunderstood the nature of the illustration, but Matisse insisted that it would be an original engraving, not a reproduction: 'my intention is to show René Char more than a simple tribute.' The woman depicted by Matisse is that of Lucienne Bernard, widow of the poet Roger Bernard, to whom the author pays homage in the eleventh poem of the collection, entitled 'Affres, détonation, silence.'

Le Poème Pulvérisé [The Scattered Poem] | Signed by Matisse and Char

Young Woman Contemplating a Bowl of Goldfish [Jeune femme contemplant un bocal de poissons rouges], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=henri+matisse&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henri Matisse</a>, 1929.<ul><li>Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954).</li><li>Etching on Chine Appliqué on Wove Paper.</li><li>Hand signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an edition of 25.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>

Young Woman Contemplating a Bowl of Goldfish | Jeune femme contemplant un bocal de poissons rouges

Frontispiece, from Fifty Drawings [Frontispiece, from Cinquante Dessins], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Henri+Matisse&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henri Matisse</a>, 1950-1951.<ul><li>Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954).</li><li>Etching on Chine applique to Arches paper.</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an edition of 1000.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original etching is hand signed in black ink by the artist "Henri Matisse" at the lower right margin. The work is from the edition of 1,000 published alongside 50 reproductions of the artist’s drawings with text in French by Charles Vildrac. It was printed by Victor Jacquemin, Paris on 18th September 1920 and published by the artist.&nbsp;The work has been inscribed with the number 761/1000 by another hand in the lower left corner.

Frontispiece, from: Fifty Drawings| Frontispiece, from: Cinquante Dessins

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