Henri Matisse
Large Seated Nude
1921-1928
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Henri Matisse
Large Seated Nude
1921-1928
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 30 3/16 x 31 5/8 x 14 in. (76.7 x 80.3 x 35.6 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.436
Large Seated Nude was inspired by a plaster copy of Michelangelo’s oversized and heavily muscled figure of Night and other figures in the Medici Chapel in Florence. The actual model for the sculpture, however, was a young French dancer named Henriette Darricarrére, who appears frequently in Matisse’s work, posing in a comfortable armchair in the artist’s studio.
Matisse’s innovation in this sculpture was to remove the supporting chair. This transforms what had been an easy relaxed pose into a surprisingly strained posture. The figure leans back into space, surveying her spectators with detached calm, yet maintains a nearly impossible pose supported only by her abdominal muscles. The upper body twists toward the front at a most unlikely angle but fails to fully align with the base on which she sits. This incomplete turn of the body projects the internal tension of the figure’s anatomy outward into the surrounding architectural space.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase from the artist, September 18, 1930, Paris
"A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940", Baltimore Museum of Art, June 6-September 1, 1941.
"Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture", Philadelphia Museum of Art, April 13-May 9, 1948.
"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.
"The Cone Collection", M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 24-February 19, 1955.
"Sculpture, Twentieth Century", Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, May 12-June 13, 1965.
"Not So Long Ago", University of Texas, Austin, October-November, 1972.
"Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", Wildenstein Gallery, New York, 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 Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection", The Baltimore Museum of Art produced, circulated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14-February 9, 1986.
"Matisse, Picasso and Impressionist Masters from the Cone Collection", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston October 2, 1991-January 19, 1992.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection", The Baltimore Museum of Art," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
"Matisse and Modern Masters from The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 3-December 28, 1996; Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, January 8-February 11, 1997.
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.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris", circulated to; North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004-January 16, 2005, Naples Museum of Art February 5, 2005-May 1, 2005.
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. 98.
Jay Fisher, American Federation of the Arts, "Matisse as Printmaker", The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 25, 2009-January 3, 2010; circulating to The Tampa Museum of Art, January 29, 2010-April 10, 2010.
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.
The Phillips Collection, "Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and European Modernist Tradition", February 29, 2020-January 3, 2021.
"Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture", Philadelphia Museum of Art, April 13-May 9, 1948.
"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.
"The Cone Collection", M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 24-February 19, 1955.
"Sculpture, Twentieth Century", Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, May 12-June 13, 1965.
"Not So Long Ago", University of Texas, Austin, October-November, 1972.
"Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", Wildenstein Gallery, New York, 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 Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection", The Baltimore Museum of Art produced, circulated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14-February 9, 1986.
"Matisse, Picasso and Impressionist Masters from the Cone Collection", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston October 2, 1991-January 19, 1992.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection", The Baltimore Museum of Art," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
"Matisse and Modern Masters from The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 3-December 28, 1996; Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, January 8-February 11, 1997.
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.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris", circulated to; North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004-January 16, 2005, Naples Museum of Art February 5, 2005-May 1, 2005.
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. 98.
Jay Fisher, American Federation of the Arts, "Matisse as Printmaker", The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 25, 2009-January 3, 2010; circulating to The Tampa Museum of Art, January 29, 2010-April 10, 2010.
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.
The Phillips Collection, "Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and European Modernist Tradition", February 29, 2020-January 3, 2021.
Cone, Etta. The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland: Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. [Baltimore, MD]: [Etta Cone], 1934, plate 122.
Aragon, Louis, Henry Clifford, and Henri Matisse. Henri Matisse: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture. Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1948, no. 109, ill. (Published as "Seated Nude")
'Cone Bequest,' "BMA News," Oct. 1949, no. 123.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951) 200, 213, 217, 221, 232, 444, 557.
Clive Bell, "The Cone Collection," (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1951) ill. cover.
Adelyn D. Breeskin, 'Acolade to Henri Matisse,' "BMA News," May - Jun. 1952, p. 4.
"A Picture Book," (Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 62.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection," (Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 42, 45, no. 156.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection, Revised Edition," (Baltimore: BMA, 1967) 44, no. 145.
Marchiori, Giuseppe. Matisse. Milan: Amilcare Pizzi, 1967, p. 73, no. 68 (published as “Nudo seduto”), ill.
George Heard Hamilton, "The Pelican History of Art, Painting and Sculpture in Europe: 1880-1940," (Baltimore: na., 1967) 297, pl. 169a.
Albert Elsen, 'The Sculpture of Matisse,' "Art Forum," 7: 2, Oct. 1968, p. 22ff.
"Life Magazine," 11 Sept. 1970, ill. p. 44.
Alicia Legg, "The Sculpture of Matisse," (New York: MOMA, 1972) 34.
"Connoisseur," 183:738, Aug. 1973, ill. p. 306.
Gowing, Lawrence. Matisse. Revised ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979, page 159, fig. 143 (published as “Nu assis”).
Nicholas Watkins, "Matisse," (Oxford: Phaidon, 1984) # 151.
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta," (Baltimore: BMA, 1985) 183.
Frank Miller, "Henri Matisse," (London: Bison Books Ltd., 1994) 14.
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "The Sculpture of Henri Matisse," (London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984) cat. # 56.
Senzoku, Nobuyuki, ed. Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art = Kon korekushon ten. [Tokyo]: "Kon Korekushon" Ten Katarogu Iinkai, 1996, page 120-121, no. 63.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2007) cat. no. 98, p. 217, ill. pp. 217.
Christie's, "Impressionist and Modern Art," 4 May 2011, p. 23, fig. 4, b&w ill.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 53, 76, pl. 30, ill.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 72.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014.
Bois, Yve-Alain, ed. Matisse in the Barnes Foundation, vol. 2. Philadelphia: Barnes Foundation, 2015, p. 349, fig. 3.
Cauman, John. Matisse in 50 Works. London: Pavilion Books, 2019.
Brown, Kathryn. Henri Matisse. London: Reaktion Books, 2021, p. 122, 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: "Cire - C. Valsuani - perdue"on base at left "HM 7/10" on base back side.
Markings: Foundry mark: "Cire - C. Valsuani - perdue"on base at left
On View at the BMA
