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Lot Essay
Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Following his series of large brush and ink drawings of the late 1940s, which featured mixed figure and still-life compositions, Matisse turned increasingly to portraiture, one of his favorite subjects. In the introduction to the folio Portraits (1954), Matisse wrote, "The human face has always greatly interested me. [Faces] probably retain my attention through their expressive individuality and through an interest that is entirely of a plastic nature. Each face has its own rhythm and it is this rhythm that creates the likeness. The conclusion of this is: the art of portraiture is the most remarkable" (quoted in J. Flam, ed., Matisse on Art, Berkeley, 1995, pp. 220, 221 and 223).
Many of Matisse's late portrait drawings are little more than masks that fill the page, which possess a classical discipline reminiscent of the ancient art of calligraphy and a refined sense of design. The present work is noteworthy for the fullness of the image, as the artist has filled the majority of the sheet in grand, gestural brush strokes. The delicate tilt of the head and the sophisticated use of negative space along each edge create an airy, light-filled composition. Composed of contrapuntal lines, the image nonetheless gives the impression of a unified arabesque, a sweeping gesture that animates the sheet and defines all aspects of form, space, light and shadow. Matisse explained that the arabesque is "the most synthetic way to express oneself in all one's aspects. It has a real function. It translates the totality of things with a sign. It makes all the phrases into a single phrase" (quoted in ibid., pp. 210-211).
Following his series of large brush and ink drawings of the late 1940s, which featured mixed figure and still-life compositions, Matisse turned increasingly to portraiture, one of his favorite subjects. In the introduction to the folio Portraits (1954), Matisse wrote, "The human face has always greatly interested me. [Faces] probably retain my attention through their expressive individuality and through an interest that is entirely of a plastic nature. Each face has its own rhythm and it is this rhythm that creates the likeness. The conclusion of this is: the art of portraiture is the most remarkable" (quoted in J. Flam, ed., Matisse on Art, Berkeley, 1995, pp. 220, 221 and 223).
Many of Matisse's late portrait drawings are little more than masks that fill the page, which possess a classical discipline reminiscent of the ancient art of calligraphy and a refined sense of design. The present work is noteworthy for the fullness of the image, as the artist has filled the majority of the sheet in grand, gestural brush strokes. The delicate tilt of the head and the sophisticated use of negative space along each edge create an airy, light-filled composition. Composed of contrapuntal lines, the image nonetheless gives the impression of a unified arabesque, a sweeping gesture that animates the sheet and defines all aspects of form, space, light and shadow. Matisse explained that the arabesque is "the most synthetic way to express oneself in all one's aspects. It has a real function. It translates the totality of things with a sign. It makes all the phrases into a single phrase" (quoted in ibid., pp. 210-211).