Henri Matisse
Nude with Blue Cushion
1923
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Nude with Blue Cushion
1923
Physical Qualities
Crayon transfer lithograph, Sheet: 757 × 561 mm. (29 13/16 × 22 1/16 in.)
Image: 615 × 480 mm. (24 3/16 × 18 7/8 in.)
Mat: 39 15/16 × 29 15/16 in. (101.5 × 76 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.12.322
The reclining nude pose became an aesthetic challenge of great fascination to Matisse. As he worked on his great bronze sculpture "Large Seated Nude" between 1922 and 1929, he continued to explore aspects of the pose in many drawings and prints. In his series of large lithographs of a nude in an armchair, the simplified interior allows the figure to take on a monumentality similar to that of the sculpture on view nearby. After printing the first version, Matisse reworked the original drawing, adding the patterning and realistic setting we see in the second version of the composition, "Nude with Blue Cushion next to a Fireplace." He then transferred the new version to a second lithographic stone and printed it. The presence of both lithographs in Cone’s collection demonstrates her interest in following Matisse’s experimentation throughout successive iterations.
BMA, "Master Prints II: Daumier to Picasso," 25 October, 1983 - 15 January, 1984.
BMA, Cone Rotation, March 2002.
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.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash; BMA, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," Dallas, January 21 - April 29, 2007; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 9 - September 16, 2007; The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 28, 2007- February 3, 2008, cat. no. 107, p. 275, ill. p. 219.
Jay Fisher, American Federation of the Arts, "Matisse as Printmaker," The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 25, 2009 - January 3, 2010; circulating to The Tampa Museum of Art, January 29, 2010 - April 10, 2010.
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.
BMA, Cone Rotation, March 2002.
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.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash; BMA, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," Dallas, January 21 - April 29, 2007; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 9 - September 16, 2007; The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 28, 2007- February 3, 2008, cat. no. 107, p. 275, ill. p. 219.
Jay Fisher, American Federation of the Arts, "Matisse as Printmaker," The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 25, 2009 - January 3, 2010; circulating to The Tampa Museum of Art, January 29, 2010 - April 10, 2010.
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.
Kosinski, Dorothy, Jay McKean Fisher, and Steven Nash. Matisse: Painter as Sculptor. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art; Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art: Nasher Sculpture Center; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007, pages 219, 275, cat. no. 107.
'Henri Matisse and the BMA,' "BMA Today," Fall-Winter 2009, pp. 6-7, ill. p. 7.
Brown, Kathryn. Henri Matisse. London: Reaktion Books, 2021, page 123.
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 left in graphite: "12/50"; lower right in graphite: "Henri Matisse"
Markings: Watermark: "J PERRIGOT ARCHES (France)" and "MBM"
