Henri Matisse

P.N. Matisse Gallery, Beverly Hills
Mrs. Bertram Smith, New York
Sale: Replica Shoes 's, New York, May 11, 1988, lot 154
Sale: Replica Shoes 's, London, April 5, 1989, lot 331
Sale: Replica Shoes 's, London, June 30, 1992, lot 37
Sale: Christie's, New York, November, 14, 1996, lot 193

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Summer Loan Show, 1966

Elie Faure, ed., Henri Matisse, Paris, 1923, illustrated pl. 54
Raoul-Jean Moulin, Henri Matisse, Drawings and Paper Cut-Outs, New York, 1968, no. 30, illustrated

In the fall of 1920, Matisse settled in Nice at the Hôtel Méditerranée et de la Côte d'Azur. There he met Henriette Darricarrère who would serve as the artist's primary model for the next seven years. Jack Cowart writes, “During her seven years of modeling, Henriette excelled at role-playing and had a theatrical presence that fueled the evolution of Matisse's art. Earlier, Lorette and Antoinette had initiated the exotic odalisque fantasy, but it was Henriette whose personality seems to have been the most receptive.  She adopted the subject roles more easily and could express the moods and the atmosphere of Matisse's settings without losing her own presence or her strong appearance.  Her distinctive physical features -- a sculpturesque body and a finely detailed face with a beautiful profile -- are evident in many of the artist's paintings, sculptures, and works on paper” (Jack Cowart, “The Place of Silvered Light: An Expanded, Illustrated Chronology of Matisse in the South of France, 1916-1932,” Henri Matisse: The Early Years in Nice, 1916-1930, (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1986, p. 27).

Of Matisse's use of charcoal at this t.mes , Victor Carlson writes, “At Nice from about 1920 Matisse began increasingly to execute large, often highly finished charcoal drawings.  The interaction of charcoal with the surface of a finely textured sheet of paper creates a remarkably varied tonal range, from the most transparent, shimmering grays to solid, velvety blacks.  An eraser, or estompe, was generally used to remove the layer of charcoal in order to create highlights or areas of pattern.  As often as not, the drawings explore the subjects and compositional problems of the artist's paintings, as if he were seeking a respite from color.”  Carlson compares the present work to a related drawing of the same subject: “The graceful model and luminous interior of [Seated Model with Guitar, Private collects ion] are repeated in another sheet [the present work]” (Victor I. Carlson, Matisse as a Draughtsman, (exhibition catalogue), The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1971, p. 100).