Henri Matisse
Venus in a Shell I
1929
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Henri Matisse
Venus in a Shell I
1929
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 12 1/16 x 7 x 8 in. (30.6 x 17.8 x 20.3 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.439
This stylized sculpture of a woman emerging from a shell was produced in Nice in 1930. Matisse first created a version of this bronze with the figure in a traditional supine position that was either lost or destroyed. He then changed the pose dramatically, making Venus rise powerfully from the smooth base, her straight back, arms, head, and neck merging to form an abstracted, refined figure. This commanding vertical pose of a female figure appears to be expanding upward and is reminiscent of the frontal position of the model in The Yellow Dress, also on display in this gallery. Both that painting and this sculpture, on which Matisse worked concurrently, signaled a new direction in his art.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, 1931; the artist, Paris
"A Century of Progress Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture", June-November 1933, no. 1166.
"Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 13, 1951-January 13, 1952; The Cleveland Museum of Art February 5-March 16, 1952; The Art Institute of Chicago, April 1-May 1, 1952; The San Francisco Museum of Art, May 21-July 6, 1952.
"The Cone Collection", M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 24-February 19, 1955.
"The Versatile Shell", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, September 28-November 17, 1963.
"The Baltimore Museum of Art Loan Exhibition", Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, OH, November 9-December 4, 1967.
"Cone Collection", Wildenstein Gallery, New York, March 29-May 4, 1974.
Brenda Richardson, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Matisse in The Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", August 24-October 14, 1979.
"The Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection", BMA produced, circulated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14-February 9, 1986.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
"Matisse and Modern Masters from The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 3-December 28, 1996; Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, January 8-February 11, 1997.
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.
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, no. 123.
"Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 13, 1951-January 13, 1952; The Cleveland Museum of Art February 5-March 16, 1952; The Art Institute of Chicago, April 1-May 1, 1952; The San Francisco Museum of Art, May 21-July 6, 1952.
"The Cone Collection", M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 24-February 19, 1955.
"The Versatile Shell", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, September 28-November 17, 1963.
"The Baltimore Museum of Art Loan Exhibition", Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, OH, November 9-December 4, 1967.
"Cone Collection", Wildenstein Gallery, New York, March 29-May 4, 1974.
Brenda Richardson, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Matisse in The Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", August 24-October 14, 1979.
"The Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection", BMA produced, circulated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14-February 9, 1986.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
"Matisse and Modern Masters from The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 3-December 28, 1996; Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, January 8-February 11, 1997.
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.
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, no. 123.
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland" (Baltimore: 1934) pl. 123c.
'Cone Bequest,' "BMA News," Oct. 1949, p. 26, no. 126.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951) 217-18, 461, 557.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection," (Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 45, no. 159.
"A Picture Book, Baltimore Museum of Art,(Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 63.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection, Revised Edition," (Baltimore: BMA, 1967) 54, no. 148.
Albert Elsen, 'The Sculpture of Matisse,' "Art Forum," vol. VII, #2, Oct. 1968, p. 22f.
Albert Elsen, "The Sculpture of Matisse," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972) 197-203.
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "The Sculpture of Henri Matisse," (London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984) cat. # 65.
Monod-Fontaine, Isabelle. Matisse: Œuvres de Henri Matisse. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1989, page 226, fig. a (published as “Vénus à la coquille I”).
Senzoku, Nobuyuki, ed. Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art = Kon korekushon ten. [Tokyo]: "Kon Korekushon" Ten Katarogu Iinkai, 1996, page 123, no. 65.
Jack Flam, "Matisse in The Cone Collection The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pl. 38, p. 86, ill.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2007) cat. no. 123, p. 276, ill. pp. 245, 246, 248.
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf (eds). "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.
Inscribed: "HM 3/10"
Markings: "Cire - C. Valsuani- perdue"
