Venus

1952

Henri Matisse

Artist, French, 1869 - 1954

Two cut pieces of royal-blue paper are affixed to a cream-white background in this vertical composition. The blue paper is cut so that the center between the two sheets creates an abstracted female form with a neck, shoulders, a breast to each side, a waist, and curving hips. The blue paper on our right spans the height of the composition and the left piece is shorter, stopping at what would be the hip. The blue is painted in horizontal strokes so streaks are visible. The artist signed the work with his initials near the lower right corner, “HM.”
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on paper panel

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 101.2 x 76.5 cm (39 13/16 x 30 1/8 in.)
    framed: 111.1 x 87.2 x 7.6 cm (43 3/4 x 34 5/16 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1973.18.2

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Vie des Arts Est., Geneva; sold 1973 through (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York) to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1959

  • Henri Matisse 1950-1954: Les grandes gouaches découpées, Kunsthalle Bern, 1959, no. 11, repro.

1960

  • Henri Matisse: Les grandes gouaches découpées, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1960, no. 11, repro.

1961

  • The Last Works of Henri Matisse: Large Cut Gouaches, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1961-1962, no. 14, repro.

  • Henri Matisse: Les grandes gouaches découpées, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris, 1961, no. 18, repro.

1970

  • Henri Matisse: Exposition du Centenaire, Grand Palais, Paris, 1970, no. 222, repro.

  • Matisse: en retrospektiv udstilling, Statens Museums for Kunst, Copenhagen, 1970, no. 110, repro.

1971

  • Matisse as a Draughtsman, Baltimore Museum of Art; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Art Institute of Chicago, 1971, no. 82, repro.

1977

  • Henri Matisse: Paper Cut-Outs, National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Detroit Institute of Arts; The St. Louis Art Museum, 1977-1978, no. 181, repro.

1978

  • Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978-1978, no. 91, repro.

1981

  • Henri Matisse: Das Goldene Zeitalter, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 1981, no. 17, repro.

1993

  • Drawings and Papiers Découpés by Henri Matisse, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany, 1993-1994, no. 150, repro. 270.

2002

  • Matisse-Picasso, Tate Modern, London; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2002-2003, no. 177 (English cat.), no. 154 (French cat.), repros.

2005

  • Henri Matisse: Figur Farbe Raum [Henri Matisse: Figure Color Space], Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, 2005-2006, no. 196.

2011

  • Matisse: La seduzione di Michelangelo, Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia, 2011, not in catalogue.

2014

  • Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs, Tate, London; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2014-2015, no. 115, repro.

2024

  • Matisse and the Sea, Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 2024, no. 27, repro.

Bibliography

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 230, repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 264, repro.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 419, no. 352, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: HM

Watermarks

in both the painted paper and support paper: Papeteries T. Barjon Moirans Isere

Wikidata ID

Q20194595

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