Henri Matisse

L.A. Louver is pleased to present a rare selection of works on paper by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) that were created between 1913-1948. The exhibition includes etchings, lithographs, linocuts, aquatints, and one drawing that reflect the artist’s lifelong devotion to figuration.

Over an artistic career that spanned six decades, Matisse worked as a painter, sculptor, muralist, designer and printmaker. While he displayed a deft proficiency in a wide range of mediums, Matisse described drawing as “the purest and most direct expression of my feelings.” Through examining his printmaking practice, we can imagine the firsthand translation of the drawn image to the printed sheet. This discreet exhibition of 19 works on paper exemplifies Matisse’s enduring fascination with both drawing and printmaking, and the varied stylistic approaches he employed to depict his subjects.

The earliest work on view is a lithograph dating from 1913. Remarkably executed with an economic use of spare, fluid lines, Nu Assis, Vu de Dos is an impeccable example of Matisse’s ability to delineate the figure. By contrast, Odalisque à la Coupe des Fruits (1925) portrays with vivid detail, a frontal view of a seated figure dressed in embellished garments. The occupied room is fully expressed, from the oriental rug on which the figure rests and the bowl of fruit at her feet, to the striped wall that serves as a backdrop. For Matisse, these elaborations served to “suggest the form or value accents necessary to the composition of the drawing.” Contemporaneous to these drawings, Matisse’s renowned odalisque paintings of the 1920s and 1930s feature models in various stages of undress, posed in opulent interiors rich with decorative patterns.

Thematically similar, Matisse’s 1929 lithograph Nu renverse près d’une Table Louis XV features an awkward upturned figure and her ornamented environment composed of loose, swift lines and light areas of shading that suggest a more immediate and spontaneous approach to the subject. In the same year, Matisse created over one hundred etchings and drypoints in 1929. The artist employed his own studio press to make the etchings, generally smaller in scale, which provided him full control over the printmaking process and the opportunity to work whenever he desired. The intimacy of this practice is reflected in his chosen subjects, and in the manner of depiction. Rendered with a delicate touch, these etchings of family and friends as well as nude models, are sensitively deliberate. Five works from this period are included in this exhibition.

Throughout his career, Matisse collaborated on 38 illustrated books. Poésies (1932) was the artist’s first foray into book publishing and included a series of etchings he made in response to the writings of French poet Stéphane Mallarmé. In these etchings, Matisse sought to achieve “a very fine line, without hatching, so that the printed page is left almost as white...” From its title, we can assume that Fee au chapeau de clarté, Souvenir du Mallarmé, created the following year in 1933, was informed by the Poésies illustrations, sharing the same characteristic owing lines and an absence of shading. Echoing that same approach, Martiniquaise (1946), a minimally sparse portrait of a woman, became the frontispiece for the 1947 edition of Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal published by La Bibliothèque Française.

The single drawing in this presentation, Nu assis (1930) is an exquisite representation of Matisse’s facility as draftsman. Realized with soft pencil markings and subtle hints of shading, the figure appears aglow from the gentle impressions made on paper.

All the works in this exhibition are available for purchase.