Henri Matisse
Head with Necklace
1906
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Head with Necklace
1906
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 5 15/16 x 5 1/8 x 4 3/8 in. (15.1 x 13 x 11.1 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.428
This installation of works by Henri Matisse with an ornate desk recreates a wall of Etta Cone’s living room in Baltimore (see image). For Cone, her apartment was a space for family and highlighting personal travels with works of art acquired while away from home. She displayed paintings of odalisques, or concubines, appearing semi-nude or clad in costumes, which Europeans and Americans associated with the Eastern Mediterranean world. While Matisse claimed to have seen odalisques during his travels, he was more likely inspired by Persian and Islamic art he avidly studied in museums across Europe and collected in North Africa.
Installed with BMA 1950.255; 1950.452; 1950.427; and on 1950.1985.8-.9
(Please see Text Entries for image used on label.)
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase from the artist, 18 Sep. 1930.
"Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 13, 1951-January 13, 1952; The Cleveland Museum of Art February 5-March 16, 1952; The Art Institute of Chicago, April 1-May 1, 1952; The San Francisco Museum of Art May 21-July 6, 1952.
"Four Americans in Paris: The Collection of Gertrude Stein and her Family", MOMA, December 18, 1970-March 1, 1971; The Baltimore Museum of Art, April 4-June 13, 1971; San Francisco Museum of Art, September 15-October 31, 1971.
"Matisse Sculpture", MoMA tour; Walker Art Center, June 20-August 6, 1972; University Art Museum, Berkely September 26-November 5, 1972.
Wildenstein & Company, New York, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", March 29-May 11, 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, shown BMA only, no. 74.
"Four Americans in Paris: The Collection of Gertrude Stein and her Family", MOMA, December 18, 1970-March 1, 1971; The Baltimore Museum of Art, April 4-June 13, 1971; San Francisco Museum of Art, September 15-October 31, 1971.
"Matisse Sculpture", MoMA tour; Walker Art Center, June 20-August 6, 1972; University Art Museum, Berkely September 26-November 5, 1972.
Wildenstein & Company, New York, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", March 29-May 11, 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, shown BMA only, no. 74.
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland" (Baltimore: 1934) plate. # 119e.
'Cone Bequest,' "BMA News," Oct. 1949, p. 25, no. 115.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection," (Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 45, no. 148.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951) 557.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection, Revised Edition," (Baltimore: BMA, 1967) 48, no. 137.
Albert Elsen, 'The Sculpture of Matisse, Part III: Primitivism, Partial Figures and Portraits,' "Art Forum," 7: 3, 1968, 26f.
Albert Elsen, "The Sculpture of Matisse," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972) 122-24.
Legg, Alicia. The Sculpture of Matisse. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1972, cat. no. 28, page 14.
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "The Sculpture of Henri Matisse," (London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984) cat. # 25, 25a.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2007) cat. no. 74, p. 271, ill. p. 272.
Inscribed: "HM 8/10" on left shoulder.
Markings: "Cire - C. Valsuani - perdue" Foundry stamp located on the proper right hand side of the figure's hair. Dutuit wrongly claims that there is no foundry mark.
