Henri Matisse
Festival of Flowers
1921
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Festival of Flowers
1921
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 25 7/8 × 36 5/8 × 7/8 in. (65.7 × 93 × 2.2 cm.)
Framed: 33 1/4 × 43 3/4 × 3 3/4 in. (84.5 × 111.1 × 9.5 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.240
In the spring of 1921, Matisse began a series of paintings that depicted the annual parade of flower-decorated floats and marching bands in Nice—a celebration that marked the change in season from winter to spring. In this composition, Marguerite Matisse (the artist’s daughter) and Henriette Darricarrère pose in their winter coats on the balcony
of the artist’s studio as they watch the parade pass by. The two women gaze into a distant area that is out of the viewer’s sight, creating a sense of mystery. Twenty years later, Matisse described the distraction of living in Nice during the annual flower festival: “When I was living in the Hôtel de la Mediterranée, the Battle of the Flowers was almost a torture for me. All that music, the floats and the laughter on the Promenade.”
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by bequest, 1929; Claribel Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, 1928; the artist
Adelyn D. Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture", April 1, 1930-December 1, 1930, no. 26. (Exhibited as "Carnival")
Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, "Henri-Matisse", June 16, 1931-July 25, 1931, no. 95. (Exhibited as "Le Carnaval de Nice")
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, "Henri-Matisse", August 9, 1931-September 15, 1931, no. 67. (Exhibited as "Le Carnaval de Nice")
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", November 3, 1931-December 6, 1931, no. 61. (Exhibited as "Carnival at Nice")
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 42. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23, 1953-November 22, 1953. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to M. Knoedler & Company, New York, January 24, 1955-February 19, 1955. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, October 21, 1955-November 4, 1955. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH, November 9, 1967-December 4, 1967. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Brenda Richardson, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", August 24, 1979-October 14, 1979.
Jack Cowart and Dominique Fourcade, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, "Henri Matisse The Early Years in Nice 1916-1930", November 2, 1986-March 29, 1987, no. 111. (Exhibited as "Fête des fleurs/Festival of Flowers")
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse, Picasso and Impressionist Masters from the Cone Collection", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, October 2, 1991-January 19, 1992.
Brain Trust Inc., Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", October 3, 1996-December 28, 1996, no. 22; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Denver Art Museum, March 11, 2000-June 25, 2000; Birmingham Museum of Art, July 23, 2000-September 17, 2000; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000-January 28, 2001.
Pia Müller-Tamm, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, "Henri Matisse: Figure, Color Space," October 29, 2005 - February 19, 2006, no. 107; circulated to Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, March 19, 2006 - July 9, 2006.
"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.
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May - 25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, "Matisse and Marguerite", April 4, 2025 - August 24, 2025.
Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, "Henri-Matisse", June 16, 1931-July 25, 1931, no. 95. (Exhibited as "Le Carnaval de Nice")
Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, "Henri-Matisse", August 9, 1931-September 15, 1931, no. 67. (Exhibited as "Le Carnaval de Nice")
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", November 3, 1931-December 6, 1931, no. 61. (Exhibited as "Carnival at Nice")
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 42. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23, 1953-November 22, 1953. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to M. Knoedler & Company, New York, January 24, 1955-February 19, 1955. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, October 21, 1955-November 4, 1955. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH, November 9, 1967-December 4, 1967. (Exhibited as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Brenda Richardson, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", August 24, 1979-October 14, 1979.
Jack Cowart and Dominique Fourcade, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, "Henri Matisse The Early Years in Nice 1916-1930", November 2, 1986-March 29, 1987, no. 111. (Exhibited as "Fête des fleurs/Festival of Flowers")
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse, Picasso and Impressionist Masters from the Cone Collection", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, October 2, 1991-January 19, 1992.
Brain Trust Inc., Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", October 3, 1996-December 28, 1996, no. 22; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Denver Art Museum, March 11, 2000-June 25, 2000; Birmingham Museum of Art, July 23, 2000-September 17, 2000; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000-January 28, 2001.
Pia Müller-Tamm, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, "Henri Matisse: Figure, Color Space," October 29, 2005 - February 19, 2006, no. 107; circulated to Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, March 19, 2006 - July 9, 2006.
"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.
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May - 25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, "Matisse and Marguerite", April 4, 2025 - August 24, 2025.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1930, p. 5, no. 26. (Published as "Carnival")
"Henri-Matisse," Paris: Galeries Georges Petit, 1931, p. 37, no. 95. (Published as "Le Carnaval de Nice")
"Henri-Matisse," Basel, Switzerland: Kunsthalle Basel, 1931, p. 15, no. 67. (Published as "Le Carnaval de Nice")
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1931, pp. 20, 51, no. 61, ill. (Published as "Carnival at Nice")
Albert C. Barnes and Violette de Mazia, "The Art of Henri Matisse," Merion: The Barnes Foundation Press, 1933, pp. 92, 196, 442, no. 130. (Published as "Carnival at Nice")
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, p. 24, pl. 42, ill. (Published as "Fête des Fleurs à Nice")
George Boas, Adelyn D. Breeskin, and J.G. D'Arcy Paul, "Selections from the Cone Collection," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," October 1949, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 16. (Published as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, p. 557 (Published as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Gaston Diehl, "Henri Matisse," Paris: Éditions Pierre Tisné, 1954, pp. 76, 155, 159. (Published as "Le Carnaval")
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. 34, no. 55. (Published as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Barbara Pollack, "The Collectors: D. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone," Indianapolis: The Bobbs Merrill Company, 1962, p. 172, ill.
Carla Gottlieb, "The Role of the Window in the Art of Matisse," "The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism," Summer 1964, vol. XXII, no. 4, p. 402, fig. 17, ill. (Published as "Flower Festival at Nice")
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. 52. (Published as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Massimo Carrà and Mario Luzi, "L'opera di Matisse dalla rivolta 'fauve' all'intimismo 1904-1928," Milan: Rizzoli 1971, pp. 102, 113, 114, no. 384, ill. (Published as "Festa dei Fiori a Nizza")
Pierre Schneider, Massimo Carrà, and Xavier Deryng, "Tout l'Oeuvre Peint de Matisse 1904-1928," Paris: Flammarion, 1982, pp. 102, 114, no. 384, ill. (Published as "La Fête des Fleurs à Nice")
Nicholas Watkins, "Matisse," Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1984, pp. 147, 149-150, 235, 238, pl. 133, ill. (Published as "Flower Festival at Nice")
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 20, 180, 198, 201, p. 20, ill.
Jack Cowart and Dominique Fourcade, "Henri Matisse The Early Years in Nice 1916-1930," New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, pp. 155, 236, 312, 333, no. 111, ill. (Published as "Fête des fleurs/Festival of Flowers")
Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, "Matisse: Le Rythme et la Ligne," Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, pp. 150, 645, no. 164, ill. (Published as "La fête des fleurs à Nice")
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, "Henri Matisse Chez Bernheim-Jeune, vols. 1-2" Paris: Éditions Bernheim-Jeune, 1995, pp. 1098-1099, 1441, no. 539, ill. (Published as "Fête des fleurs à Nice - Promenade des anglais")
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. 71, 159, no. 22, ill.
Jack Flam, "Matisse in the Cone Collection: The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pp. 60-61, pl. 23, ill.
Pia Müller-Tamm, ed., "Henri Matisse: Figure, Color, Space," Düsseldorf, Germany: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hatje Cantz, 2005, pp.340, 369, no. 107, ill.
Dianne Sachko Macleod, "Enchanted Lives, Enchanted Objects: American Women Collectors and the Making of Culture, 1800-1940," Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008, pp. 202, 303, fig. 78, ill.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 44, 76, pl. 20, ill.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 52.
Monod-Fontaine, Isabelle. Matisse et Marguerite: le regard d'un père. Paris: Paris-Musées, 2025, page 163, cat. no. 96.
Inscribed: Recto: Lower right in paint, "Henri-Matisse" Verso: Top horizontal stretcher, at left, browned square label, "EXPOSÉ/BÂLE (Kunsthalle)/No. 29" and rectangular white label with a red border, written in dark ink, "___r Festival/Nice/42" Top horizontal stretcher, at right, browned label, "GALERIES/Exposition HENRI-MATISSE/JUIN 1931/Appartenan à/ M. Miss Etta Cone" Top of left stretcher, browned label in dark ink, "TO Miss Cone/MUSEUM No. 61" and in graphite, "67" and "n°77" Middle of left vertical stretcher, browned label, "18 Rue Yvart - PARIS (15e)/Téléph." VAUGIRARD 10-69/3034 A/M. Henri Matisse/New York" Bottom of left vertical stretcher in black grease pencil, "#395" Top of right vertical stretcher, browned label with a navy border, in graphite, "03 NY" and wine colored circular stamp, "I-I___/+"; top right corner in black grease pencil, "91" Bottom of right vertical stretcher, browned square label, "NSPORT/OBJETS D'AR__/18 Rue Yvart - PARIS (15e)/Téléph." VAUGIRARD 10-69/13541 B/M. H. Matisse B. N.Y./Exposition Bale" and circular dark stamp, "DOUANE/PARIS/___BALE" Middle of center stretcher in white, "77" and rectangular white label, "NO. 20464/PICTURE"
On View: Cone Wing, Gallery 4
