Henri Matisse
Crouching Venus
1917-1918
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Crouching Venus
1917-1918
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 10 3/8 x 9 7/16 x 5 5/8 in. (26.4 x 24 x 14.3 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.435
“I took up sculpture because what interested me in painting was a clarification of my ideas. I changed my method, and worked in clay in order to have a rest from painting, in which I had done absolutely all that I could for the time being. That is to say that it was done for the purpose of organization, to put order into my feelings and to find a style to suit me. When I found it in sculpture, it helped me in my painting. It was always in view of a complete possession of mind, a sort of hierarchy of all my sensations that I kept working in the hope of finding an ultimate conclusion.” –Matisse, 1941
Installed with 1950.431 and 1950.434
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase from the artist, Sep. 1930, Paris
Probably included in the 1930 exhibition "Henri Matisse", at Galerien Thannhauser, Berlin-Luzern; see notes.
"Expressionism", Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, January 22-March 11, 1956 and circuit to January, 1957.
MOMA, "The Sculpture of Matisse", February 24-May 8, 1972; tour Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, June 20-August 6, 1972; University Art Museum, Berkeley, September 18-October 29, 1972.
"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 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. 97.
"Collecting Matisse and the Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters", The Jewish Museum May 11, 2011-September 25, 2011, circulating to The Vancouver Art Gallery, May 11, 2011-September 25, 2011, The Nasher Museum of Art November 1, 2012-February 10, 2012.
National Gallery of Australia, "Matisse and Picasso", December 15, 2019-April 13, 2020.
"Expressionism", Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, January 22-March 11, 1956 and circuit to January, 1957.
MOMA, "The Sculpture of Matisse", February 24-May 8, 1972; tour Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, June 20-August 6, 1972; University Art Museum, Berkeley, September 18-October 29, 1972.
"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 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. 97.
"Collecting Matisse and the Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters", The Jewish Museum May 11, 2011-September 25, 2011, circulating to The Vancouver Art Gallery, May 11, 2011-September 25, 2011, The Nasher Museum of Art November 1, 2012-February 10, 2012.
National Gallery of Australia, "Matisse and Picasso", December 15, 2019-April 13, 2020.
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland", Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, plate. # 121d.
'Cone Bequest,' "BMA News," Oct. 1949, p. 26, cat. # 122.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951, 557.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection," Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, 45, no. 155.
Raymond Escholier, "Matisse," New York: Praeger, 1960, pl. 45.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection, rev. ed.," Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967) no. 144.
Albert Elsen, 'The Sculpture of Matisse, Part III: Primitivism, Partial Figures and Portraits,' "Art Forum," 7: 3, 1968, p. 26f.
Albert Elsen, "The Sculpture of Matisse," New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972, 138-42.
Legg, Alicia. The Sculpture of Matisse. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1972, cat. no. 52, page 33, (published as ‘Venus; Crouching Venus (Vénus accroupie)’).
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "The Sculpture of Henri Matisse," London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984, cat. # 53.
Manuel Neri, "The Figure in Relief," Hamilton, NJ: Grounds For Sculpture, Oct. 7, 2006-April 29, 2007; tour Portland Art Museum, Oregon, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, no. 140, ill.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2007) cat. no. 97, p. 274, ill. p. 220.
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 6/10"
Markings: "Cire - C. Valsuani - perdue" (Note* Duthuit incorrectly states that it has no foundry mark). Round ink customs stamp, illegible. Label removed and currently in BMA files: "Galerien Thannhauser, Luzern, L. G. 20452"
