HENRI MATISSE | La Blouse roumaine

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Mrs. Atherton Richards (acquired from the above on June 30, 1946)
Bernard Danenberg Gallery, New York (and sold: Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, December 17, 1969, lot 73)
Private Collection, United States (acquired at the above sale)
Thence by descent

Executed on cream wove paper. The sheet is t-hinged to a window mat at two places along the upper edge of its verso. There are artist's pinholes in the upper right and upper corners. There is a faint mat stain around the extreme perimeter of the sheet. There are couple scattered pindots of possible foxing throughout the sheet. The work is in good condition.
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.

A sensuous example of Matisse’s mature drawing style, La Blouse roumaine is characterized by graceful lines. The present work demonstrates the artist's delight in depicting arabesques and floral motifs found in textiles and patterned clothing used to adorn his models. In this case, it was a Romanian garment that fascinated him, and it would go on to be the subject of several drawings and a major oil (see fig. 1). 

Matisse 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 model that he has chosen, on which his attention is focused, and whose spirit he has penetrated" (quoted in Jack Flam, ed., Matisse on Art, Berkeley, 1995, p. 179). The interplay between the white space of the sheet and the drawn lines was one that preoccupied Matisse greatly, and something he often addressed in his theoretical writings at this time. He described the role of his models in relation, 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 John Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, London, 1984, p. 117).



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Georges Matisse.