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Pierre Matisse Gallery

established 1931

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The abstracted form of a woman is made with blocks of cherry red, pine green, cobalt blue, black, and one canary yellow-shape on this vertical, woven tapestry. The ivory-white background of the tapestry is dotted and streaked with light and dark brown and black, and it’s fringed along the bottom. The colorful shapes roughly make up the form of a person with a headdress, arms, one foot, and perhaps a skirt. A grid of red, blue, and black blocks are also in the lower right corner. The weaving is not uniform, and ends hang down in many areas. The texture varies from fine, uniform stitches to scale-like sections. The artists’ names are woven into the tapestry near the middle of the right edge, “Miró” and “Royo.”
Josep Royo, Woman, 1977, wool and cotton tapestry, Gift of the Collectors Committee and George L. Erion, 1978.23.1

Woman

Josep Royo · 1977 · wool and cotton tapestry ·  Accession ID  1978.23.1

Shown from the thighs up, a light-skinned man stands facing us in front of a harvest-yellow background in this loosely painted vertical portrait. The man’s body faces us, and he looks out with dark, heavy-lidded eyes under low, angular brows. His skin is pink on his full cheeks and streaked with light green on his forehead. A wide brown moustache droops over a prominent, square chin. His short brown is neatly combed over his head. His collared, long-sleeved white shirt is painted with mostly vertical strokes. A short vivid red tie falls about halfway down his chest, and he wears dark pants. His right arm, to our left, is planted on that hip, and his other arm hangs by his side. The man’s features and his clothing are outlined with teal green. The name “PETRVS MANACH” is painted in forest-green letters in the upper left corner of the rich yellow background. The artist also signed the work in the lower right corner, “Picasso.”
Pablo Picasso, Pedro Mañach, 1901, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.53

Pedro Mañach

Pablo Picasso · 1901 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.53

The drawing shows a seated person with their torso, arms, and head visible. The person is facing forward with arms resting on their lap. The facial features include defined eyebrows, a straight nose, and gently closed lips. The person's short and slightly wavy hair is visible under an elaborate hat with intricate patterns and loops. Their attire features ornate designs around the neckline. They do not seem to be holding any objects or wearing visible jewelry. The background is blank.
Henri Matisse, The Plumed Hat, 1919, graphite on wove paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1995.47.58

The Plumed Hat

Henri Matisse · 1919 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1995.47.58

This painting displays interlocking shapes outlined in bold black lines. Bright colors fill the shapes, including red, blue, and green, with one yellow section. The shapes are stacked together, along with some solid black shapes. Some of them have black dots in them, like eyes. Some of the shapes are squares or triangles, while others are more abstract. The background outside of the shapes is off-white with splatters of black, yellow, and brown paint. The splatters are visible under some of the colorful paint within the shapes.
Joan Miró, Woman, 1976, oil on canvas, Gift of George L. Erion, 1977.45.1

Woman

Joan Miró · 1976 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1977.45.1

At least two surreal, imaginary creatures are surrounded by rubbed and blended orbs of coral orange, dandelion yellow, cobalt blue, emerald green, black, gray, and pastel green and pink in this abstracted painting. The larger being is in the center of the canvas and nearly reaches the top edge. Its triangular, oblong head has a tiny face with two eyes, a nose, and a dash for a mouth at the top corner. A long, sinuous neck reaches halfway down the composition to join the oval-shaped body, which has two thick arms with small hands. A V-shaped form at the center of the body, like folded wings, and a rounded bottom are difficult to interpret. What may be legs are fragmented fields of flat cardinal red, black, yellow, and green. The second creature is about a third the height of the first. Tucked in the lower right corner of the canvas, this critter has a tiny bird-like head, a bulbous body, and long legs. A second bird with a short beak and a crest like a rooster appears to be superimposed upside down on the other bird, so the clawed feet point upward. A six-pointed star painted in black with two red triangles and one yellow triangle at its center is over the birds. A tall shape made of black circles like a tower of bubbles is to the left. The upper corners of the painting are rubbed with mostly gray and black, and patches of color create a loose band across the composition about a third of the way down the canvas. Some areas, like the two birds in the lower right, might be drawn directly onto the textured canvas. The artist signed the lower right corner, “Miró.”
Joan Miró, The Shooting Star, 1938, oil on canvas, Gift of Joseph H. Hazen, 1970.36.1

The Shooting Star

Joan Miró · 1938 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.36.1

This is a drawing of a man's face. His face is slightly turned to the left, and he looks at us out of the corners of his eyes. He has light skin, a white beard and mustache, and thinning hair. His eyebrows are dark and appear furrowed above his large, round eyes. He wears round glasses seated on the bridge of his nose. Around his neck is the outline of a collar. The background is blank paper.
Henri Matisse, Self-Portrait, 1937, charcoal with stumping on laid paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.104

Self-Portrait

Henri Matisse · 1937 · charcoal with stumping on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1985.64.104

This drawing depicts a field leading towards a town or city in the distance, with a horizon line showing rows of rooftops. Towers and chimneys release smoke against the otherwise clear sky. Closer to us, the large field is depicted with short vertical strokes suggesting grass or crops, with tall, tied bundles interspersed throughout the space. In the center of the field, a person in a hat holds a long scythe and cuts a path through the field. Another person seems to be behind them, facing away from us. The people are drawn with simple lines and little detail, as is the rest of the drawing. The background is beige paper.
Vincent van Gogh, The Harvest, 1888, reed pen and brown ink over graphite on wove paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.91

The Harvest

Vincent van Gogh · 1888 · reed pen and brown ink over graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1985.64.91

The image displays intersecting angular shapes and lines in a complex pattern. Bright colors, such as yellows, oranges, and purples, are layered between the white geometric shapes.
Simon Hantaï, Untitled, 1971, watercolor on prepared, folded linen, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Olga Hirshhorn), 2015.143.1396

Untitled

Simon Hantaï · 1971 · watercolor on prepared, folded linen ·  Accession ID  2015.143.1396

Two columns of brightly colored rectangles are layered with geometric shapes and organic forms in this abstract, vertical artwork. The rectangles are painted, and the abstract shapes are cut from pieces of painted paper. The left column is stacked top to bottom with rectangles in black, lime green, sage green, sunshine yellow, watermelon pink, and amethyst purple. There is also a pink triangle above the pink rectangle, near the middle of the column. Spanning different sections of the column are a blue spiral and a curling blue line, white petal-like shapes, and purple and blue stylized leaves, perhaps seaweed, and triangles. A narrow black form like the profile of a stylized fish and a curve radiating spikes float in the middle of the column. The rectangles of the right column are silvery gray, goldenrod yellow, bright green, lime green, sunshine yellow, and sapphire blue. The column is layered with two more black spiky shapes, a short vertical royal-blue curving line, and an elongated, white U shape. A long, black S-shape floats over the top four rectangles, and a pumpkin-orange spiral lies on top of a sapphire-blue circle near the yellow rectangle at the bottom. That yellow rectangle has blue rectangle at its center and a darker yellow rectangle to the left. There is a white wavy line up the blue area, a black wavy line to each side in the yellow, and one black heart-shape near the each of the lower corners of the blue field. Higher up, the lime-green rectangle in each column also has a smaller, darker green rectangle painted within. The work is set against a flat, parchment-brown background. The artist wrote the title in black cursive letters across bottom, “les betes de la mer...” and signed and dated the lower right, “H. Matisse 50.”
Henri Matisse, Beasts of the Sea, 1950, gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973.18.1

Beasts of the Sea

Henri Matisse · 1950 · gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on canvas ·  Accession ID  1973.18.1

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.”
Henri Matisse, Venus, 1952, gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on paper panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973.18.2

Venus

Henri Matisse · 1952 · gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on paper panel ·  Accession ID  1973.18.2