The sculpture of matisse (art ebook) by ART SF BLOG

THE SCULPTURE OF MATISSE

A Gift to t*# THE HUNTINGTON war

ART REFERENCE LIBRARY CONSTANCE M. PERKINS

took up sculpture because what interested

was a

in painting

changed

clarification of

method, and worked

ideas. I

in clay in

order to have a rest from painting where

done

say that

ization, to

helped

had is

was done for the purposes of organput order into

a style to suit me. it

could for the time being. That

all I

feelings,

When I found

and

find

in sculpture,

painting. It was always in

view of a complete possession of sort of hierarchy of all

mind, a

sensations, that

kept working in the hope of finding an ultimate

method,

henri matisse

Alicia

Legg

THE SCULPTURE OF MATISSE

The Museum

Modern

Art,

New York

Trustees of

ÂŠ

1972 by The

Museum

Modern Art

Number 73-188667

Library of Congress Catalog Card 0-87070-448-6

West 53

David Rockefeller, Chairman of the Board; Henry Allen Moe.

Paley, President ;

Frederic Byers

James Thrall Soby. Mrs.

III,

Bliss Parkinson.

Vice Presidents; Willard C. Butcher.

Walter Bareiss, Robert R. Barker. Alfred H. Barr.

Jr.,*

Mrs.

Armand P. Bartos. William A. M. Burden, Ivan Chermayeff. Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark, Mrs. W. Murray Crane,* John de

Modern Art

Street,

Modern Art

Treasurer; Robert 0. Anderson, Mrs. Douglas Auchincloss.

Wageman

Printed in the United States of America

The Museum

John Hay Whitney. Gardner Cowles, Vice Chairmen; William

ISBN

The Museum

New York, N.Y.

10019

Menil. Mrs. C. Douglas Dillon. William H. Donaldson. Mrs.

Edsel B. Ford, Gianluigi Gabetti. George Heard Hamilton.

Schedule of the Exhibition

The Museum

Modern

February 24-May

Art,

Wallace K. Harrison,* Mrs. Walter Hochschild.* James W.

New York

John

L. Loeb.

Mrs. G. Macculloch Miller.*

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis June 20-August

Husted.* Philip Johnson. Mrs. Frank Y. Larkin, Eric Larrabee, Gustave L. Levy.

1972

Ranald H. Macdonald.*

Irwin Miller, Mrs. Charles

Payson,* Gifford Phillips. Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Nel-

1972

son A. Rockefeller. Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn. Mrs. Bertram University Art

Museum,

September 18-October

University of California, Berkeley

29, 1972

N. Thayer,

Front and back covers: La Serpentine. 1909. Frontispiece:

Edward

Steichen. Henri Matisse

(and "La Serpentine" ), Issy-les-Moulineaux. 1909.

The Museum

Modern

Art,

New

Smith. Mrs. Alfred R. Stern. Mrs. Donald B. Straus. Walter

York.

Edward M. M. Warburg.*

Monroe Wheeler* *Honorary Trustee

for Life

Clifton R.

Wharton.

Jr..

Contents

Acknowledgments

The Sculpture

of Matisse

Notes

Sculptures by Matisse Seen in His Paintings

List of Exhibitions

Catalogue of the Exhibition

Lenders to the Exhibition

Mr. and Mrs. James

Adams, Dr. and Mrs. Harry Bakwin.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bareiss, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney F. Brody, Harry I. Caesar, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph F. Colin, Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cummings, Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Lee V. Eastman, Mr. and Mrs. Allan

D. Emil, Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection, Mr. and Mrs.

Paul Kantor, Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Katz, Mrs. Melville Kolliner, Mrs. thal,

The

M. Victor

Leventritt. Mrs. Philip N. Lilien-

Jeffrey H. Loria Collection, Lewis Manilow. Jean

Matisse, Pierre Matisse. Frank Perls, Nelson A. Rockefeller,

Florene M. Schoenborn and Samuel A.

Marx

Collection,

Mrs. Bertram Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. M. Warburg.

Joy

Weber, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Weiss. Mr. and Mrs.

Howard

A. Weiss

The Baltimore Museum

of Art:

The Art

Institute of

Chicago; Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of at Greensboro; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musee Matisse. Nice; The Philip H. and

North Carolina

A. S.

W Rosenbach

cisco

Museum

Foundation, Philadelphia; San Fran-

of Art; Stanford University

Stanford, California

Robert Elkon Gallery.

New York

Museum

of Art,

Acknowledgments

It is

a pleasure to express

the Trustees of

The Museum

appreciation, and that of

Modern

Art; the Walker

Art Center, Minneapolis: and the University Art Muse-

um, University

of California, Berkeley to the Matisse

family for their cooperation in the preparation of this exhibition.

The

artist's

daughter,

Madame Georges

tions,

and was kind enough

to give

access to the

manuscript and photographs for his forthcoming book.

The Sculpture of Henri Matisse. The collaboration of many Museum departments essential in a project of this nature,

members

too

numerous

Among my

and the help of

mention

staff

gratefully ac-

Duthuit, and sons, Jean Matisse and Pierre Matisse

knowledged.

have been patient and understanding

support have been invaluable are William S. Lieberman

frequent requests for information

in replying to

and generous in

providing loans. Very special thanks are owed to the lenders

names to

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

collectors,

museums, and

galleries

are listed on page 6, as well as those

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

whose

who wish

remain anonymous. The advice and assistance of

Frank Perls and Pierre Schneider have been extremely helpful. Others

who have aided

securing loans are Mrs.

in locating

works and

Use Gerson. Mrs. Cynthia

McCabe, Abram Lerner. and

Matisse scholars whose works have led coveries are Alfred H. Barr,

Jr.,

Holland. to

my own

Two dis-

and Albert E. Elsen.

Mr. Barr's book. Matisse: His Art and His Public, continuously reveals

new

aspects of this great twentieth-

century master: Professor Elsen

made

valuable sugges-

who

first

colleagues whose interest and

proposed the show a number of years ago:

Helen M. Franc, William

McShine, whose suggestions

for the text

tive

Rubin, and Kynaston

were construc-

and imaginative: and Harriet Schoenholz Bee. who

edited this publication. Others to

whom

indebted

are Cora Rosevear, for research and help with the installation;

Jane Adlin. for the varied secretarial work that

goes into the preparation of an exhibition and catalogue: Judith Di

Meo,

for

French translations: Jean-

Edith WeifTenbach, for arranging the transportation of the works, and recording them; Charles tion Supervisor, for advice,

cuting the

many

installation.

steps in

all

and

Froom, Produc-

his associates for exe-

phases of the exhibition's

Alicia Legg, Director of the Exhibition

Profile of a

Woman. 1894.

9%"

Copy

after Barye's

a Hare. Profile of a

Woman. 1894.

9%"

Jaguar Devouring

1899-1901. 9"

Bust of a Woman. 1900.

Copy

Horse. 1901.

6%"

Study of a Foot. 1900.

24V2 "

11%"

after Puget's Ecorche. 1903. 9" h.

The Sculpture

The

first

ture

was held

of Matisse

Matisse exhibition devoted primarily to sculpin

1912

sion Gallery in

New

Back,

Alfred Stieglitz's Photo-Seces-

York.

The following

The

year,

1909, was included in the "Armory Show" and

since that time, examples of his tures have

more important

been seen periodically

sculp-

New York and

in profile, the influences of

a free

pleted in 1901

tional effect

Kunsthaus,

Zurich, in 1959, was virtually completeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; all but two of the sixty-nine

the bronzes

prints,

time the

first

full

This improvisa-

misleading, however, in light of the fact

worked

for two years on this piece

and

studied the animal's anatomy extensively. Rodin's influence

also apparent in

Woman, both

Puget's Ecorche skin leaves bare

Henri-Emile-Benoit Matisse was born December 31,

He was

prepar-

become an

for Rodin's

artist

and went

to Paris to enter the class of at the

Soon disillusioned with academic

Academie

Julian.

instruction, he gained

admission to the studio of Gustave Moreau

Ecole

at the

figure has

were cut

off

agement

of individual expression stimulated Matisse;

the brooding

Moreau

also

Louvre,

whom

he studied and copied.

the

He had

little

formal training as a sculptor: in 1899 he attended eve-

ning sessions in sculpture

at the

Ecole de

after failing to interest

of his drawings, he

worked

la Ville

Auguste Rodin

for several

months

with Rodin's leading pupil. Antoine Bourdelle. at the

La Grande Chaumiere.

Although Matisse

s first

known

sculptures

(

1894

)

the male figure

muscular structure.

its

whose flayed

model Bevilaqua, who had posed

Walking Man. Rodin

1877

youthful, striding

in Matisse's Serf,

whose widespread

to the base.

more emphasis

The arms

to the

forward thrust of

head and protruding abdomen. '"Matisse ... a

sculpture which sprang from

a conception close to that of Rodin,

more rugged and

tremely expressive."

During

sit-

above the elbows before the work was

worked laboriously

else,

Serf,

muscular legs are firmly rooted

cast, giving

1903

matured

des Beaux-Arts. Moreau's liberal attitude and encour-

introduced him to the masters

(

Horse of 1901, and

said that there were over a hundred

it is

tings with the

Adolphe William Bouguereau

Study of a Foot and Bust of

of 1900, a small

Of another and more celebrated sculpture, The 1900â&#x20AC;&#x201D;03,

ing for a career in law when, in 1891, he decided to

studios of

in shorthand.

another free copy, this one of the standard studio prop.

1869, at Le Cateau-Cambresis (Nord).

some

which the tense drama of the original

captured almost as

that Matisse

com-

and some related drawings and

range of Matisse as a sculptor.^

and

)

bringing to the United States for the

Paris,

these

known bronzes and one carved-wood The present exhibition includes

piece were represented. all

Among

copy of Barye's Jaguar Devouring a Hare

number

at the

freestanding modeling.

first efforts at

of important exhibitions of Matisse's sculpture

Rodin and Antoine-Louis

Barye, the eminent animal sculptor, are evident in his

other principal American cities. During the 1950s, a

were held. 2 One of these showings,

young woman

are a pair of bas-relief portraits of a

partially misshapen, but ex-

Matisse completed two female

this period,

figures; in Madeleine,

early drawings

became something

1901, the rhythmic line of his

and paintings

of the

nude model

car-

ried further than in the conventional studio poses.

The

eye

led

from the foot

to the

head along an unbroken

The Serf. 1900-03. 37%"

Study for Madeleine. ca. 1901. Pencil

Madeleine, 7.1901.

23%" h.

Madeleine

//.

1903. 23

Seated Nude with

Arms on Head.

1904. 13"/8 " h.

flowing curve (the folded arms are barely suggested) that imparts a languid grace to the figure.

The same

pose

animated,

used in Madeleine,

broken surface

1903, with

its

smooth modeling

in contrast to the

Here the arms are folded across the

the earlier version.

and the torso

chest,

II,

vibrant with

In painting, Matisse had done

and movement.

life

some

pictures in the

Impressionist style, had studied Turner and Cezanne,

and through Signac, knew the doctrine of Pointillism. His own of his

style

own

emerged

generation,

1905 when, along with

artists

Andre Derain, Maurice Vla-

minck, Albert Marquet, and others, he sent some paint-

dAutomne. The

ings to the Salon

the violent colors

caused a

sensation caused by

and bold brushwork

critic to call

them "Fauves

of these artists

or "wild beasts.

Matisse's paintings of this time, Luxe, calme et volupte,

1904-05, and the celebrated Joy of

Life,

1906,

in-

clude figures in poses that were to become the classic repertory in his sculptureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the reclining nude, the upright figure with one knee bent, the crouching figure,

and the gesture of arms raised above the head

arranging the hair.

During the Fauve period, Matisse completed ber of small figures and heads. Notable ures

Torso with

Head (La

Vie), 1906, in

sprouting wings;

the

which Matisse was among the

admire. his

Among

fig-

which the

small pointed

breasts and jutting buttocks recall African ture,

num-

exaggerated and the truncated arms

arch of the back are

raised

among

the

Negro

first to

sculp-

know and

the heads are the tiny relief of 1903 of

daughter Marguerite, and the 1905 heads of two

small boys, his son Pierre and the son of the painter

Upright 1904.

Nude " 8 h.

ivith

Arched Back.

Torso with 1906.

Head (La

Vie).

Standing Nude, Arms on Head. 1906.

10%"

" 8 h.

FACING PAGE:

this page:

Profile of a Child (Marguerite).

Thorn Extractor. 1906. l 1/^'

1903. 5"

Head

of a Child (Pierre Matisse).

1905.

6%" h.

Head

of a Child

1905.

&y8 "

Head

of a

1906.

6 1/4 " h.

Head

of a Faun. 1907.

5V2 "

fiose//e. 1905. 41/4" h. (

Pierre

Manguin

\oung Girl (Marguerite)

Small Head uith Upswept Hair. 1906. 4i/o"

Small Head with Flat Nose.

1906.6V4"h.

Small Head uith Comb. 1907. 3 3 4"

Head with Necklace. 1907.

5~/$" h.

Woman Leaning on Her Hands.

1905. 5V4" h.

Manguin. In these he captures the characteristic personality of each child. In

1906 and 1907, seven small

but expressive heads were created. Two of the most

compelling are Small Head with Upswept Hair, with

its

aquiline features and hair rolled in the Greek style and

Small Head with

Comb which

modeled

in the classic

manner. Also of this period are a number of sculptures that testify to Matisse's its

space:

among

mastery of the figure

in relation to

these are the small seated

Woman

Leaning on Her Hands of 1905, a complex arrangement of arms, legs,

and body

serene Standing

Nude

girl in a frontal pose.

opposing angles, and the

of 1906. a

modest adolescent

Standing Nude. 1906. 19"

Half-Length Nude, Eyes Cast Down. 1906. Transfer lithograph

Reclining Woman,

II.

1906.

Pen and ink

Reclining Figure with Chemise. 1906. 5V2" h.

One

the

Matisse's art

most obsessive recurring themes the reclining nude.

The

earliest sculp-

ture on this theme, which continued to 1929,

Reclin-

ing Figure with Chemise of 1906, whose pose

closely

related to three of the figures in Joy of Life. In this

bronze, the outstretched figure

arm, bent

elbow; the

at the

supported by the right

knee

left

thrust over the

other leg, twisting the torso and throwing the

left

hip

into dramatic confrontation with the raised left arm.

The following

year, the

on a larger scale

was working on

in Reclining this figure,

before returning to his

theme was more

it,

Nude, fell

While Matisse

made the foremost Blue Nude (Souvenir

"The bronze," Alfred Barr wrote,

posing in size than The Blue

developed

and was damaged;

the artist

Fauve figure paintings,

Biskra)

fully

Nude

of of

"is less im-

yet, in a sense, the

big painting actually served as a study for the sculpture.

The

sculpture

more powerfully composed,

the distor-

tions bolder, particularly in the bent but towering left

Reclining Nude,

1907. 13l/2 "

Dance. 1911.

16-5

8 "h.

arm.

sculpture by Matisse

more admirably

de-

signed to interest the eye and satisfy the sense of rhyth-

mic contrapposto when seen from different points of

The Reclining Nude

view.

1907

one of Matisse's

masterpieces."

same

In the

wood

year. Matisse

called Dance.'

produced

unique work

Using a log about

six inches in

diameter and some seventeen inches long, he carved, in

low

ject

relief, a frieze of

absorbed him

would continue

three dancing nudes. This sub-

in the ring

in the

dance

Joy of Life, and

two large paintings. Dance of

1909 and 1910. as well as

in a

bronze of 1911.

Matisse's fame was already established in 1908. and

33 Boulevard des Invalides was attracting

his school at

many

foreign students.

ing in clay, and

Sarah Stein

made

not be

his remarks, taken

Mrs. Michael Stein to agree with a

)

is:

down by

"The model must

preconceived theory or

must impress you. awaken

effect. It

which

The curriculum included model-

among

you an emotion,

turn you seek to express/'" Several small

crouching nudes created in 1908 range

in size

from

three to seven inches and have in their expressiveness

an immediate quality which encourages examination the hand. Small Crouching Torso less

but

clearly related to the crouching

paintings of 1907. Le Luxe,

and

//.

headless and arm-

nudes

two

Three figures seem

to be preliminary studies for the larger

Seated Nude

(Olga) of 1910. Decorative Figure. 1908. combines an archaic dignity with sensuous elegance.

head

The

refined and stylized

large in relation to the body, and as Albert

Elsen points out. Matisse ingeniously solved a structural

problem with the crossed

legs:

"Sophisticated

Small Crouching Torso. 1908.

Crouching Nude. 1912. Fen and ink

3%" h.

Small Crouching Xude with Arms. 1903. 6"

Small Crouching Xude without

Seated Figure. Right

an Arm. 1908. V'^'h.

1908. 7Vo"h.

Hand

on Ground.

Seated

Xude

(Olga). 1910. 17"

^^ V

Decorative Figure. 1908. 28

Seated Nude,

Ann

behind

Her Back. 1909. 11%" h.

Two Negresses.

L908.

L8V2 "

li.

foreshortening of the legs allows both feet to touch the

ground

which eliminates a potentially troublesome

(

space below the

foot

left

had been kept

if it

and securely anchors the composition."

Arm

occur again in Seated Nude,

in the air

)

Crossed legs

behind Her Rack of

1909. In this piece, the lower legs are

and one arm

left

unfinished,

incomplete, leaving the twisted torso

with rounded belly and hip as the focal point. In

Tuo

which

egresses, 1908, the only sculpture in

Matisse combines two figures, two heavily built nudes stand side to side facing in opposite directions, each

with an arm across the other's shoulders. hermetic, with

and

its

and

left

its left

arm hanging

One

figure

close to the

body

legs pressed together; the other, with legs apart

hand on

hip, keeps the composition open.

La Serpentine, 1909,

woman

an elongated figure of a

with grotesque proportions yet

both dignified

and provocative. The nonchalant pose of resting one elbow on a post and crossing the

been related by Alfred Barr Hilton

Kramer has

feet at the ankles

to the

Greek

said of this work:

has

tradition.

"The

parts are

each given an unexpected weightâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the torso as slender as

any

to be

found

in a later Giacometti. the

ceived like a flower too large for

head con-

stem, the calves

its

almost too absurdly thick for the lean thighsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; yet the

whole

resolved in a

harmony

that belies the distor-

tion of the parts." "

Standing Nude, a small bas-relief of 1908. seems like a sketch in bronze for

The Back,

four in the great series of

Although the small

modeling

1909, the

more than

first

life-size reliefs.

relief is a frontal view,

its

fluent

an exercise in highlighting form which was

l.\

FACING PAGE:

La Serpentine. 1909. 22

Arms

Torso without

or Head. 1909.

Standing Nude. 1908. 9"

9%"

carried to the Back series

manner

until the fourth

and

successively abstract

final version of

Because of the need for space

1930.

work on

sion from the Russian collector. Sergei

commis-

Shchukin, for

two large wall decorations (Dance and Music), Matisse

moved

where he

to Issy-les-Moulineaux

built a studio.

Perhaps the experience of working out the problems of

form

murals led him to attempt a large

naturalistic

modeling

The Back,

relief.

The

accentuates the

form of the heavy-set model, who leans

to the left with

her head beyond the academic point of balance— above the

weight-bearing foot. The curving arabesque

characteristic of Matisse's that

was already apparent

sculptures such as Reclining Nude,

1908

rative Figure.

the

left

elbow,

down

)

flows

round, a

in the

breast

full

visible. In

of the twisted right

from the head, cradled

1907, and Deco-

the furrow of the spine

buttock to the bent right knee. As

would not be

and rounded

to suggest a figure

shown, where

in actuality it

another distortion, the fingers

hand are spread out as

a fan against

the wall. Tlie

Back, II was done in 1913 and. like the

version, the figure ever, a

first

placed off center. The stance, how-

stabilized.

The flowing rhythm changes

syncopated one. and the modeling has Cubist facets

and arbitrary creases, such as

at the waist

and buttocks:

counter movements occur in the rounded right shoulder

and curved

left

arm. Hair and neck become a single

shaft extending into the hollow of the back, foretelling

the process of simplification to In

come

in the later states.

1916—17 Matisse was working on the

large paint-

ing Bathers by a Rirer, in which details of one figure

appear

The Back.

Ill,

1916—17. In

this relief, the

77ie fiacfc,

1909.

74%"

Study for The Back,

Pen and ink

II. ca.

1913.

The Back. U. 1913.

741/2" h.

The Back,

111.

1916-17.

74V2 "

The Back. IK 1930.7V

1910-13. 13"

Jeannette,

II,

1910-13.

Jeannette, III. 1910-13.

10%"

23%"

torso

squared

off,

with the long hair dividing the

form into four main masses. The hips and legs are fused, with only a vestige of anatomical form, and the

splayed fingers are eliminated.

Matisse worked on The Back, IV in Nice in 1929â&#x20AC;&#x201D;30. In this, as in the third version, the figure

and the

left

breast

no longer

visible.

centered,

The top

of the

head protrudes above the edge of the panel, breaking the conventional format of the bas-relief as picture

plane, and introducing an architectural device of com-

bining the figure with

its

support. In the final resolution

Jeannette, IV. 1910-13.

24%" h.

Jeannette,

of the bent left arm, the point of the

the actual corner of the relief.

becomes the division

elbow appears

The heavy

rope of hair

first

1910-13.

22%"

two versions directly from the model, a young

woman named Jeanne

Vaderin. Within three years, the

two columns, the right one

remaining heads were produced as variations, inten-

hand. The long evolution of

sifying the pear-shaped face, aquiline features, and

these great sculptures can explain the radical change

bouffant hair in the third and fourth versions, and

notched

to indicate the

between the is

first

that Matisse

and the

but what

also apparent

drastically simplifying the structure in the fifth. Here,

logical but ever bolder steps

working from the plaster cast of the third version.

last,

was taking

toward monumental sculpture.

Matisse lopped

In another important series, the five heads of Jeannette of

1910â&#x20AC;&#x201D;13, Matisse radically altered

nally naturalistic conception. In

his origi-

1910 he worked on the

the

brow

off the

instead,

and

center

fill

in the left

building up

sliced off the sides of the head,

throwing the eye sockets into to

roll of hair,

relief.

The

final step

was

socket with an abstract block, giving

Head

of Marguerite. 1915.

12V h.

an ambiguous intensity that Jeannette,

V is

to the face. Alfred

Barr has said

bolder than any Cubist sculpture of

the period, and that

anticipates Picasso's big plaster

heads of 1932. u While the process of abstraction in these heads

clearly

demon-

evident, Matisse also

strates his extraordinary

mastery of organic form and

expressive possibilities.

its

In 1915 Matisse modeled an eloquent head of his

daughter; in

Head

of Marguerite a thin face

sup-

ported by a narrow bust that turns into a truncated stele,

which has caused

often to be called '"Giacomet-

tesque," although, of course,

antedates Giacometti's

attenuated pieces by thirty years.

In 1916 Matisse began to spend winters in Nice. Of the three small bronzes of 1918, two were probably

Nude

taken from Hellenistic sources, and Reclining

with Bolster relates to paintings of this period, when he

was embarking on another major themeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the odalisque. In 1921 he a

good part

moved

into

an apartment and was

of every year in Nice,

spend

whose Mediterranean

sun and light are captured in hundreds of paintings

which he combined patterned

textiles, exotic plants,

and

models, both nude and gaily costumed.

George Besson wrote of Matisse's he would

visit the

life in

Nice that

School of Decorative Arts to study

a cast of Michelangelo's Night, one of the pair for the

Medici tomb

in Florence.

made

During 1923-25, a

sculpture evolved which combines the indolence of the

painted odalisques with an extraordinary vitality and tension.

The massive

torso of Large Seated

Nude,

lean-

ing sharply backward with the arms locked behind the

head, left

an architectural cantilever anchored by the

foot under the right knee.

The

fact that the thighs

Seated Model Clasping Knee.

Seated

Nude Clasping Her Right

Leg. 1918. 9"

1909. Reed pen and ink

Reclining

Nude

ivith Bolster.

1918. 4

Venus, ca. 1918. 10^4" h.

\air~~~-

Large Seated Nude. 1923-25. 33"

Day. 1922. Lithograph Small Nude in an Armchair. 1924. 9Vi>"

and

compared with

legs are unusually short

one of the

most fascinating things about

Perhaps their fleshy bulk

that

is all

the torso

this sculpture.

needed

the leaning body. In a small bronze of 192

support

the nude,

low armchair, nonchalantly

in a similar position in a

throws one leg over the back of the chair. In a series of three heads of 1925â&#x20AC;&#x201D;29, the transfor-

mation from naturalism occurs in three two-yfear intervals.

portrait

The

of 1925,

first,

steps,

done

a conventional

model, Henriette Darricarrere, who

of the

posed for many paintings and drawings

Nice during

the 1920s. Henriette, II, 1927, introduces a style of simplified planes

and volumes

It is in

lines of the

to use

Henriette III,

though, that the personality of the model

The

was

that Matisse

occasionally in future sculptures.

revealed.

jaw are sharpened and the high cheek

bones emphasized; the

facial

are tightened, leaving

muscles around the mouth

partly open as

While these sculptures are only

to speak.

slightly over life size,

one can imagine them

monumental

the third version, with

its

architectural base.

scale, especially

In 1927 and 1929, Matisse returned to the pose of the reclining nudes of 1906â&#x20AC;&#x201D;07. In Reclining Nude, II

he reverses the position, with the head the torso extending to the

left.

at the right

The body

is less

and con-

torted than in the 1907 version, and the figure, propped

up by the

left

monumental the

elbow with the right one

in its passivity,

in the air, is

emphasizing the swell of

rounded buttocks. In Reclining Nude,

rugged modeling yields

body has

to the

III,

the

smooth, and the sinuous

a relaxed ease.

Continuing

this

manner

of organic simplicity.

Matisse produced two very small torsos in 1929 and the

Henrietta

1925.

HV2 "h.

Henrietta

II.

1927.

12%"

Henriette, III. 1929.

15%"h.

Reclining Nude,

II.

1927.

liy2 "

PRKSr +짜Z

Reclining Nude,

III.

1929.

7^"

Small Thin Torso.

Tiari. 1930.

1929. 3" h.

Small Torso. 1929.

V/2 " h.

8" h. Tiari (with Necklace). 1930.

Venus

a Shell,

1930. 121/4" h.

Standing Nude. 1930. Pencil

Venus in a Shell,

II.

1932.

13%"

â&#x20AC;˘

Study for Christ. 1949. Pen and ink and pencil

The Back and Tiari

final version of

by a

tropical flower that Matisse

in 1930. Inspired

admired during

earlier that year to Tahiti, the latter

work

rounded forms. The simplified head

a visit

a cluster of

surmounted by

such a weight of ovoid "petals," or "leaves," that a supporting wedge

needed

To add a further curve

to the

at the

back of the neck.

composition of one of the

ten casts, Matisse attached a necklace of fine chain.

Jacques Lipchitz said of the sculpture: 'The surfaces are almost neutral

the volumes are poetized to a

sublime degree." u Within the next two years, he completed two versions of a seated nude probably derived

from a Greek Shell,

shell. In the

Venus

1930, balances herself with raised knees in a

bronze

terra-cotta in the Louvre.

static

second version, of 1932. the figure

and almost Cubist

in construction.

Because of his concern with other projects, Matisse

produced only three sculptures between 1932 and his death in 1954. After two serious operations in 1941,

he spent

much

of his time in bed,

working on drawings

and the collages of cut paper that have become so ential in

contemporary painting. In 1948 he began an

intensive period of three years' of the

influ-

work on

the decoration

Chapel of the Rosary for the Dominican Nuns of

Vence, for which he provided designs for the architecture, stained-glass windows,

adhered

and wall

tiles.

no formal religious doctrine,

Although he

this

work

ab-

sorbed him from a spiritual as well as an intellectual point of view. For the altar, he

made

a slender bronze

final

sculptures are the Crouching Nude,

1949, and Standing

Nude

(Katia), 1950. The

an almost primitive crudeness, with

a last repetition of the

woman

with arms raised above her head. This time the upright figure

stretched almost in exaltation.

Matisse has been

known

principally

through his

paintings and drawings, and in recent years through the late cut-outs of painted paper. Throughout his ca-

crucifix.

The two

unfinished, and Katia

its

first

arms and

reer,

however, he created some distinctively original

has

and extraordinarily beautiful pieces, and his position as

feet

a sculptor

increasingly recognized.

Christ,

Chapel of the Rosary for the Dominican Nuns of

Vence. 1949.

13%"

Crouching Nude. 1949. 10y8 "

Standing Nude (Katia). 1950.

Notes

17%"

Conversation with Pierre Courthion, quoted in Jean Guichard-Meili. Matisse.

New

York: Frederick A. Prae-

from the French

ger, 1967. p. 168. Translated

edition.

Paris: Hazen, 1967. 2.

Exhibitions of Matisse's sculpture, and those in which

an important part, are

his sculpture plays

listed

page 48. 3. All

of the sculptures are illustrated in the catalogue.

Albert E. Elsen, "The Sculpture of Matisse, Part I,"

Artforum, September 1968, p. 21. The Sculpture of Henri Matisse, a monograph by Albert E. Elsen, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972, grew out of the four-part series in 5.

Jean Puy, '"Souvenirs," he Point,

Alfred H. Barr,

New

vol. 4, no. 3, July

p. 19.

1939, 6.

Artforum.

York: The

Jr.,

Matisse, His Art and His Public.

Museum

With the painting

Still

Modern

Art, 1951, p. 100.

Life with a Plaster Figure of

1906, Matisse began incorporating his sculptures into paintings.

The Reclining Nude,

least eight oils.

list

was

to figure in at

of Matisse's paintings that include

images of his own sculpture appears on page 47. 7.

This sculpture, in the Musee Matisse in Nice,

able for the present exhibition because of

its

unavailfragile

condition. 8.

Barr, op.

Elsen,

cit., p.

551.

"The Sculpture

October 1968,

of Matisse, Part II," Artforum,

p. 28.

10. Barr, op. cit., p. 139.

11. Hilton

seum

Kramer, "Matisse as a Sculptor," Bulletin (Mu-

of Fine Arts, Boston )

vol. 64, no. 336,

1966,

p. 58.

12. Barr, op. cit., p. 142. 13.

George Besson, "Arrivee de Matisse a Nice," Le Point,

14.

Jacques Lipchitz, "Notes on Matisse as a Sculptor,"

vol. 4, no. 3, July

1939, p. 42.

The Yale Literary Magazine,

Fall 1955, p. 12.

Sculptures by Matisse Seen in His Paintings

Madeleine, Still

1901

Goldfish. 1912. Barnes Foundation, Merion. Pennsylvania

Life in Venetian Red. 1908. Pushkin

Museum,

Still

Life uith Ivy. ca. 1915. Private collection

The Music Lesson. 1917. Barnes Foundation, Merion,

Moscow

Pennsylvania

Copy

after

Studio at Nice. 1924. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Cushman,

Pugefs Ecorche. 1903

Interior with Eggplants. 1911.

Musee de Peinture

New

York

Sculpture. Grenoble Still

Life uith Eggplants. 1911. Mrs. Bertram Smith.

Decorative Figure. 1908

The Pink Studio. 1911. Pushkin Museum, Moscow

New York

The'Red Studio. 1911. The Museum of Modern Art, Seated Nude uith

The Red Studio.

Arms on Head. 1904 1911. The Museum of Modern Art,

New

New York

Woman Leaning Still

New York Piano Lesson. 1916. The Museum of Modern Art.

Small Crouching Nude uith Arms. 1908

on Her Hands. 1905

Life uith Pelargonium. 1907.

The Art

York

Institute of

The Branch

of Lilac. 1914. Private collection

Chicago

Two Negresses. 1908 Fruit

Standing Nude. 1906 Still

and Bronze. 1908. Pushkin Museum, Moscow

Life uith a Plaster Figure. 1906. Yale University Art

Gallery.

The Back,

New Haven

1909

The Pink Studio. 1911. Pushkin Museum, Moscow

Thorn Extractor. 1906 Still

Life uith Pelargonium. 1907.

The Art

Institute of

Jeannette, IV.

Chicago

New Reclining Nude,

Goldfish. 1909 or 1910. Statens

Museum for Kunst,

Life uith Pewter Jug. 1910.

Goldfish and Sculpture. 1911.

York

Art,

Jeannette, Still

1910-13. (?)

Life uith a Bust. 1912. Barnes Foundation. Merion,

The Hermitage, Dance. 1911

Leningrad

New

Modern

Pennsylvania

Copenhagen

Art,

York

1907

Sculpture and Persian Vase. 1908. National Gallery. Oslo

Still

1910-13

The Red Studio. 1911. The Museum

The Museum

Modern

Interior uith Eggplants. 1911.

Sculpture, Grenoble

Musee de Peinture

List of Exhibitions

Exhibitions devoted primarily to sculpture are indicated

by an

asterisk.

Others are

listed to indicate early

show-

Venice.

1930

Berlin. Galerien

ings of sculpture, important retrospectives, and exhibitions in

which the number of sculptures

in relation to

works

in other

Paris. Societe

mediums.

du Salon d'Automne.

Paris. E. Druet Gallery.

Paris. Societe

Mar. 19-Apr.

1910—11 London. Grafton

and

York.

Arts Club of Chicago,

Basel. Kunsthalle. Henri-Matisse.

Retrospective. Aug. 9-Sept. 15. 127 works;

15 bronzes. Catalogue.

New

plasters.

York.

Museum

Modern

Art.

Henri-Matisse. Retrospective. Nov. Galleries.

19.

Mar. 13-28.

du Salon d'Automne.

Paintings. 13 bronzes

15— Mar.

Brummer Gallery. Sculpture by Henri Matisse. Jan. 5— Feb. 7. 46 works;

"New

25 shown

55 paintings, graphics, 3 sculptures.

1908

Thannhauser. Henri

265 works; 20 bronzes. Catalogue.

Paintings, 2 plaster busts.

1906

Biennale. 33 works; 6 bronzes.

Matisse. Retrospective. Feb.

considerable

1931

1904

XVI

1928

Manet and the

3— Dec.

162 works; 11 bronzes. Catalogue.

Post-Impressionists. Nov. 8-Jan. 15.

Paintings, drawings, 7 bronzes.

1943

*New

York. Buchholz Gallery. Bronzes by

Degas, Matisse, Renoir. Oct. 19— Nov. 13.

1912

New York. Photo-Secession Gallery, "291." An Exhibition of Sculpture— the first in America— and Recent Drawings by Henri

12 works.

1948

Galleries.

Second Post-

1949

1950 York. International Exhibition of

Modern

Art.

"The Armory Show."

Feb. 15— Mar. 15. 13 paintings, 3 drawings, I

Bernheim Jeune. Exposition

Henri Matisse. Apr. 14—19. 11 paintings,

Paris.

Maison de

Pensee Franchise. Henri

Matisse: Chapelle, Peintures, Dessins, Sculptures. July 5-Sept. 24. 115 works;

51 bronzes. Catalogue.

1951-52 New York. Museum

Modern

Art. Henri

Matisse. Retrospective. Nov. 13-Jan. 13.

Exhibition. Jan. 20-Feb. 27. 74 works;

145 works; 28 bronzes. Catalogue. Also shown at Cleveland Museum of Art, Feb. 5-Mar. 16; Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 1-May 4; San Francisco Museum of

II sculptures.

Art,

13 sculptures.

sculpture.

Paris. Galerie

1915

9— Oct.

308 works; 38 bronzes. Catalogue.

drawings, prints. 7 sculptures.

New

Lucerne. Musee des Beaux-Arts. Henri Matisse. Retrospective. July

Impressionist Exhibition. Oct. 19 paintings,

1913

of Art. Henri Matisse.

Catalogue.

plasters, 1 terra-cotta, 12 drawings.

London. Grafton

Museum

Retrospective. 271 works; 19 bronzes.

Matisse. Mar. 14— Apr. 6. 6 bronzes,

Philadelphia.

New

York. Montross Gallery. Henri Matisse

May

22-July

1953

*London. The Tate Gallery. the Sculpture of Matisse

Studies. Jan.

9— Feb.

Kunsthaus. Zurich, July 14-Aug. 12, 1959

Exhibition of

and 3 Paintings with

(see separate entry); Konsthallen.

Gothenburg. Mar. 16-Apr. 10, 1960.

22. 48 bronzes.