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Lot Essay
Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Nu assis was executed in April 1947 and shows one of Henri Matisse's most celebrated subjects: the female nude. Here, the woman is seated, yet reclining, supporting herself with her arms as she leans back, one leg tucked underneath her. Her face and body have been rendered with a handful of deft strokes, many of them arcs that give a vivid notion of the curvaceous, sensual nature of her body. In a way, this is the subject matter for Matisse: the model is shown as an extension of the odalisque that had so fascinated him throughout much of his career. While her torso is shown using two straight lines, these contrast with the swirling curves and arabesques that comprise so much of the rest of the composition, revealing Matisse's move away from rigidity and towards the lyricism that would mark much of his work for the rest of his life. As Matisse himself said, in terms that appear apt for Nu assis:
'I have always seen drawing not as the exercise of a particular skill, but above all as a means of expression of ultimate feelings and states of mind, but a means that is condensed in order to give more simplicity and spontaneity to the expression which should be conveyed directly to the spirit of the spectator’ (Matisse, quoted in J. Golding, 'Introduction,’ pp. 10-18, J. Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, exh.cat., London & New York, 1985, p. 11).
Nu assis appears related to a picture of a reclining nude that Matisse had drawn in Paris in 1946 and earlier in 1947, showing a model who featured in a number of his works, named as Patitcha. That drawing, now in the Musée Matisse, was recorded in a number of states as it gradually became more and more pared back in its composition. As Matisse re-worked the picture, the charcoal added a halo-like sense of shade and shadow, as is also the case in Nu assis, hinting that it too is the final state of a picture that was the result of a journey. At the same time, this blurred area adds a sense of texture to the composition.
Nu assis was executed in April 1947, at a crucial point in Matisse's life. He had spent much of the year and the second half of the previous one in Paris, returning to Vence that month. Perhaps it was from this vantage point, looking back at his image of Patitcha, that Matisse created Nu assis. Certainly, his arrival back in Vence marked a sudden watershed in his work, resulting in a huge rise in productivity as Matisse hit rich new seams of inspiration. Hilary Spurling has pointed out that, over the following year, he painted more pictures than he had in the three previous years. As his assistant, model and manager Lydia Delectorskaya said, 'It was a veritable explosion, a kind of apotheosis' (L. Delectorskaya, quoted in H. Spurling, Matisse the Master, A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954, London, 2005, p. 448). This was true both of the lush paintings of the interior at Vence and of his drawings.
Nu assis was executed in April 1947 and shows one of Henri Matisse's most celebrated subjects: the female nude. Here, the woman is seated, yet reclining, supporting herself with her arms as she leans back, one leg tucked underneath her. Her face and body have been rendered with a handful of deft strokes, many of them arcs that give a vivid notion of the curvaceous, sensual nature of her body. In a way, this is the subject matter for Matisse: the model is shown as an extension of the odalisque that had so fascinated him throughout much of his career. While her torso is shown using two straight lines, these contrast with the swirling curves and arabesques that comprise so much of the rest of the composition, revealing Matisse's move away from rigidity and towards the lyricism that would mark much of his work for the rest of his life. As Matisse himself said, in terms that appear apt for Nu assis:
'I have always seen drawing not as the exercise of a particular skill, but above all as a means of expression of ultimate feelings and states of mind, but a means that is condensed in order to give more simplicity and spontaneity to the expression which should be conveyed directly to the spirit of the spectator’ (Matisse, quoted in J. Golding, 'Introduction,’ pp. 10-18, J. Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, exh.cat., London & New York, 1985, p. 11).
Nu assis appears related to a picture of a reclining nude that Matisse had drawn in Paris in 1946 and earlier in 1947, showing a model who featured in a number of his works, named as Patitcha. That drawing, now in the Musée Matisse, was recorded in a number of states as it gradually became more and more pared back in its composition. As Matisse re-worked the picture, the charcoal added a halo-like sense of shade and shadow, as is also the case in Nu assis, hinting that it too is the final state of a picture that was the result of a journey. At the same time, this blurred area adds a sense of texture to the composition.
Nu assis was executed in April 1947, at a crucial point in Matisse's life. He had spent much of the year and the second half of the previous one in Paris, returning to Vence that month. Perhaps it was from this vantage point, looking back at his image of Patitcha, that Matisse created Nu assis. Certainly, his arrival back in Vence marked a sudden watershed in his work, resulting in a huge rise in productivity as Matisse hit rich new seams of inspiration. Hilary Spurling has pointed out that, over the following year, he painted more pictures than he had in the three previous years. As his assistant, model and manager Lydia Delectorskaya said, 'It was a veritable explosion, a kind of apotheosis' (L. Delectorskaya, quoted in H. Spurling, Matisse the Master, A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954, London, 2005, p. 448). This was true both of the lush paintings of the interior at Vence and of his drawings.