Henri Matisse
Ballet Dancer Seated on a Stool
1926
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Henri Matisse
Ballet Dancer Seated on a Stool
1926
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 32 1/8 × 23 7/8 in. (81.6 × 60.6 cm.)
Framed: 39 9/16 × 31 3/4 in.
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.254
“Colors have a beauty of their own which must be preserved,
as one strives to preserve pure tones in music. It is a question of
organization and construction that is sensitive to maintaining this
beautiful freshness of color. . . .What counts most with color are
relationships . . . . No doubt there are a thousand different ways of
working with color. But when one composes with it, like a musician
with harmonies, it is simply a question of emphasizing the
differences.”—Henri Matisse, 1945
A Modern Influence label:
In this view of a dancer at rest, the figure’s tutu skirt
is juxtaposed against broad areas of blue and black
paint, creating a fascinating combination of volume
and flatness, abstraction and representation. Cone
had expressed an interest in acquiring this work from
Matisse more than a decade before he felt ready to
sell it to her. She eventually purchased it from the
artist’s son Pierre in 1948, the year before her death.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, 1948; the artist, Paris, through Pierre Matisse, New York
Matisse: Menschen, Masken, Modelle
Matisse as Printmaker
Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore
Matisse, Life in Color: Masterworks From The Baltimore Museum of Art
Matisse and The Eskimos
Cone Wing Rotations 2020
Cone Wing Rotations 2021
A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore
Cone Wing Rotations 2023
Cone Wing Rotations 2024
Cone Wing Rotations 2025
Matisse: Black is a colour
Florent Fels, "XXe Siècle: Henri-Matisse," "Éditions des Chroniques du Jour," 1929, no. 3, pl. 30, ill. (published as "Danseuse Classique").
Hans Purrmann, "Henri Matisse," Berlin: Galerien Thannhauser, 1930, no. 72 (published as "Sitzende Tänzerin").
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1931, pp. 21, 52, no. 72, ill. (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Roger Fry, "Henri-Matisse," New York: E. Weyhe, 1935, p. 34, ill. (published as "Dancer").
Roger Fry, "Henri-Matisse," Paris: Éditions des Chroniques du Jour, 1935, p. II, ill. (published as "Danseuse Classique").
Riichiro Kawashima, "Matisse," Tokyo: Atelier-Sha, 1936, p. 20, ill
Louis Aragon, Henry Clifford, and Henri Matisse, "Henri Matisse: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture," Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1948, p. 40, no. 67, ill. (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Gertrude Rosenthal, "Selections from the Cone Collection," The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 7 - December 31, 1949, p. 18 (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, pp. 214-216, 447, 557, 575, p. 447, ill. (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Clive Bell, "Modern French Painting: The Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1951, p. 23 (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Gaston Diehl, "Henri Matisse," Paris: Éditions Pierre Tisné, 1954, p. 79 (published as "Danseuse Assise").
"Matisse: A Rare Collection Record," "Vogue" March 1, 1955, vol. 125, pp. 133, 135, ill. p. 135 (published as "Ballet Dancer").
"Part of Cone Art Collection to be Exhibited in New York," "The Baltimore Sun," January 16, 1955, p. 13, ill.
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Cone Collection: A Handbook with a Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, p. 36, no. 69 (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Charlotte Devree, "Two Victorians in Modern Art," "The New York Times," January 16, 1955, p. SM24, ill. (published as "Ballet Dancer").
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, p. 67, no. 66 (published as "Ballet Dancer").
Massimo Carrà and Mario Luzi, "L'opera di Matisse dalla rivolta 'fauve' all'intimismo 1904-1928," Milan: Rizzoli, 1971, pp. 104, 113, 114, no. 447, ill. (published as "Ballerina").
Pierre Schneider, Massimo Carrà, and Xavier Deryng, "Tout l'Oeuvre Peint de Matisse 1904-1928," Paris: Flammarion, 1982, pp. 104, 114, no. 447, ill. (published as "Danseuse Classique").
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 8, 94, 194, p. 8, ill.
Jack Cowart and Dominique Fourcade, "Henri Matisse The Early Years in Nice 1916-1930," New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, p. 262, ill.
Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, "Matisse: Le Rythme et la Ligne," Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, pp. 188, 644, no. 197, ill. (Published as "Danseuse classique")
Susie Kalil, "The Joy of Color, the Ecstasy of Form," "Houston Press," December 23, 1993, p. 27.
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, "Henri Matisse Chez Bernheim-Jeune, vols. 1-2" Paris: Éditions Bernheim-Jeune, 1995, pp. 1264, 1443, no. 668, ill. (Published as "Danseuse sur un tabouret")
Nobuyuki Senzoku and Akira Tomita, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art," Tokyo: Brain Trust Inc., 1996, pp. 14, 80, 159, no. 31, ill.
Néret, Gilles. Henri Matisse. Köln; New York: Taschen, [1999], page 131.
Eric Gibson, "The Gallery: Seeing Matisse in a New Light," "Wall Street Journal," July 9, 2001, p. A.26, ill.
Pierre Sanchez, "Dictionnaire du Salon des Tuileries: Repertoire des Exposants et Liste des Oeuvres Presentees 1923-1962," Dijon: L'Echelle de Jacob, 2007, p. 524. (Published as "Danseuse")
Ortrud Westheider, Michael Philipp, Dorothee Böhm, Ina Conzen, Frank-Thomas Ziegler, "Matisse: People, Masks, Models," Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2008, p. 171, no. 78, ill. (Published as "Ballerine au tabouret/Ballet Dancer Seated on a Stool")
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 68, 76, pl. 46, ill.
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf (eds). "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.
Inscribed: Recto: Signed, lower right in dark paint, "Henri Matisse"
