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Study for “Herodias” - Image 1
Study for “Herodias” - Image 2

Henri Matisse and Henri Matisse, Presentation Maquette, Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé

Study for “Herodias”

1931-1932

Study for “Herodias” — thumbnail 1
Study for “Herodias” — thumbnail 2
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Study for “Herodias”

1931-1932

Physical Qualities Graphite with erasing on paper (recto); graphite (verso), Sheet: 331 x 251 mm. (13 1/16 x 9 7/8 in.) Mat: 20" x 16"
Credit Line The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number 1950.12.704
Over the course of Matisse’s work on the Mallarmé project, imagery often migrated from one poem or illustration to another. In this preparatory drawing, Matisse rotates the final illustration for “Summer Sadness,” seen in the case opposite the entrance to this gallery. The drawing is two-sided; on the reverse, Matisse traced the image from the front of the page, which was a common working practice as he elaborated his ideas for the Mallarmé project and used one image to generate another. Here, he also inscribes the sheet with a line of verse from the poem: “Triste fleur qui croît seule et n’a pas d’autre émoi / Que son ombre dans l’eau avec atonie [“sad lonely flower, emotionally ignorant / but for its shadow seen in the stream listlessly].”
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest of Etta Cone, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, MD by purchase, 1931-33; the artist
BMA, "Henri Matisse: The Spirited Line--Works on Paper, 1898-1950, from the Museum Collection," 7 September - 2 November 1986.

Katy Rothkopf and Leslie Cozzi, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Modern Influence: Henry Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore," October 3, 2021 - January 2, 2022.
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf (eds). "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.

Inscribed: upper left in graphite: "Triste fleur qui croît seule et n'a pas d'autre émoi / Que son ombre dans l'eau avec atonie / (no. 1) / Henri Matisse"

Markings: Chopmark: MALLARME ET MATISSE

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1931-1932
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1930-1931
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1931-1932