Henri Matisse
Etta Cone (VI/VI)
1932-1933
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Etta Cone (VI/VI)
1932-1933
Physical Qualities
Charcoal with stumping and erasing on two joined sheets of paper, Sheet: 711 × 409 mm. (28 × 16 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.12.70
After Claribel Cone’s death in 1929, her sister commissioned Matisse to execute a memorial portrait of her late sister. He decided to depict Etta as well, and described her as having the “majesty of a Queen of Israel but with less obvious beauty, smooth hair and yet falling in beautiful lines likes those of her face, but with a touching depth of expression, always submissive to her glorious sister, yet attentive to everything.”
By contrast, Claribel was “of a great noble and glorious beauty, beautiful hair falling in ample waves in the old-fashioned way, satisfied and domineering.” Upon completion, Matisse gave Cone four drawings of her sister and six of herself.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore; probable gift of the artist, 1934
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May - 25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Denver Art Museum, "Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art," March 11, 2000 - June 25, 2000; circulated to the Birmingham Museum of Art, July 23, 2000 - September 17, 2000; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000 - January 28, 2001.
Jay Fisher, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from the Cone Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, 17 November, 1996 - 19 January, 1997; Seattle Art Museum 20 February - 20 April, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18 May - 13 July, 1997.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The
Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
BMA, "Henri Matisse: The Spirited Line--Works on Paper, 1898-1950, from the Museum Collection," 7 September - 2 November 1986.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," 24 August - 14 October 1979.
The Wildenstein Gallery, NY, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art: A Benefit Exhibition at Wildenstein, New York," 29 March - 11 May 1974.
Katy Rothkopf and Leslie Cozzi, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Modern Influence: Henry Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore," October 3, 2021 - January 2, 2022.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Denver Art Museum, "Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art," March 11, 2000 - June 25, 2000; circulated to the Birmingham Museum of Art, July 23, 2000 - September 17, 2000; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000 - January 28, 2001.
Jay Fisher, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from the Cone Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, 17 November, 1996 - 19 January, 1997; Seattle Art Museum 20 February - 20 April, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18 May - 13 July, 1997.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The
Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
BMA, "Henri Matisse: The Spirited Line--Works on Paper, 1898-1950, from the Museum Collection," 7 September - 2 November 1986.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," 24 August - 14 October 1979.
The Wildenstein Gallery, NY, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art: A Benefit Exhibition at Wildenstein, New York," 29 March - 11 May 1974.
Katy Rothkopf and Leslie Cozzi, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Modern Influence: Henry Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore," October 3, 2021 - January 2, 2022.
Cone, Etta. The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland: Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. [Baltimore, MD]: [Etta Cone], 1934, plate 96f.
Cowart, Jack, and Dominique Fourcade. Henri Matisse: The Early Years in Nice, 1916-1930. Washington: National Gallery of Art; New York: H. N. Abrams, 1986, page 251, fig. 26.
Guillaud, Maurice, and Jacqueline Guillaud. Matisse: le rythme et la ligne. Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, plate no. 322 (published as “Etta Cone”).
The International Review published by The Drawing Society, Vol. XVII, No.1, May - June 1995, p.1, ill.
O’Brian, John. Ruthless Hedonism: The American Reception of Matisse. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999, p. 85.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 55, 76, pl. 32, ill.
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf (eds). "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.
Inscribed: lower right in graphite: "Henri - Matisse"
