Provenance

Oskar Moll

German, 1875 - 1957

Explore Selected Works

A geranium with vibrant pink blossoms sits in a terracotta pot on a ledge in front of two shelves in this stylized, vertical still life painting. The orange terracotta pot has patches of vivid spring green around its base. The rounded leaves of the plant and petals of the blossom are outlined in black and filled in with areas of parakeet and moss green for the leaves and pink for the petals. The pot sits on a bright, lavender-purple ledge, and two more shelves are stacked behind it. A single terracotta pot sits to our left behind the plant on the lower shelf, and four pots are lined up on the shelf above, cut off by the top edge of the canvas. Brushstrokes are visible throughout. A turquoise strip runs along the bottom edge of the composition, and the artist signed the lower right corner, “Henri Matisse.”
Henri Matisse, Pot of Geraniums, 1912, oil on linen, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.41

Pot of Geraniums

Henri Matisse · 1912 · oil on linen ·  Accession ID  1963.10.41

Fields of elephant gray, coral orange, and turquoise surround a fan-like, abstracted palm frond near the center of this vertical, abstract painting. The fronds of the palm radiate like a starburst against unpainted, cream-white canvas. Three black, vertical bands spaced behind the palm suggest tree trunks, with the rightmost trunk dotted with spring green, perhaps representing moss or the leaves of a vine. The fields of gray to either side of the frond, the turquoise areas below the gray, and the coral at the bottom center are painted with visible brushstrokes, creating a mottled effect. Rounded turquoise forms above the gray are silhouetted against a field of pale blue, perhaps representing the sky along the top edge. A few pointed, oval leaves painted spring green with black outlines dip into the scene from the top of the composition. The artist signed the work in dark green paint in the lower right: “Henri-Matisse.”
Henri Matisse, Palm Leaf, Tangier, 1912, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund, 1978.73.1

Palm Leaf, Tangier

Henri Matisse · 1912 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1978.73.1

Bibliography

1917

  • Schottmüller, Frida. "Die Gemäldesammlung Oskar Moll." Cicerone IX (1917):101-110

1975

  • Salzmann, Siegfried and Dorothea. Oskar Moll Leben und Werk. Munich, 1975

1996

  • Gautherie-Kampa, Annette. Café du Dôme: Deutsche Maler in Paris 1903-1914. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Städtische Galerie Würzburg, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Städtische Galerie Haus Coburg, 1996-1997:74.

  • Pucks, Stefan. "Von Manet zu Matisse: Die Sammler der französischen Moderne in Berlin um 1900," in Manet bis van Gogh: Hugo von Tschudi und der Kampf um die Moderne. Exh. cat. Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1996:389