Henri Matisse
Purple Robe and Anemones
1936
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Purple Robe and Anemones
1936
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 28 3/4 × 23 5/8 in. (73 × 60 cm.)
Framed: 37 × 31 13/16 × 3 1/2 in. (94 × 80.8 × 8.9 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.261
Lydia Delectorskaya, Matisse’s studio assistant and muse, was the model for Purple Robe and Anemones. Delectorskaya sits quietly amid a wild explosion of color and line, balanced between competing patterns and contours of warm and cool tones. The painting is alive with energy, as the lines in her robe echo the patterns on the wall behind her and the jug in the foreground. In some areas of the composition, such as the purple robe, the artist used a scraping technique to form stripes. In other parts, such as the decorative elements of the table in the foreground, he used paint to describe the pattern. Matisse was apparently very fond of this elegant purple robe, since he made several paintings in which a model wears it in a similar setting. Throughout his life, Matisse filled his studio with lush flowers, North African furnishings, and exotic fabrics. He delighted in including these elements in his paintings, using them to evoke a mood of leisure and voluptuousness.
Publication References
"Oeuvres Récentes de Henri-Matisse," Paris: Galerie Paul Rosenberg, 1937, no. 11. (Published as "Femme à la robe violette et anemones")
Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1941, p. 84, n.p., ill. (Published as "The Purple Robe")
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. 18.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, p. 557.
"The Art of Henri Matisse," Palm Beach, FL: The Society of the Four Arts, 1953, no. 25.
"Matisse: A Rare Collection Record," "Vogue" March 1, 1955, vol. 125, pp. 133, 135, ill. p. 135.
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, pp. 7, 37, no. 76, ill.
"The Cone Wing," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," March 1957, cover page, ill.
Leslie Judd Portner, "Baltimore Museum Opens New Cone Wing," "The Christian Science Monitor," March 23, 1957, p. 10.
Leslie Judd Portner, "Worthy Home for Cone Collection," "The Washington Post and Times Herald," August 25, 1957, p. E7, ill.
Raymond Escholier, "Matisse: A Portrait of the Artist and the Man," New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1960, pp. 10, 14, 223, no. 50, ill. (Published as "Lydia aux anémones")
Eric Newton, "The Arts of Man: An Anthology and Interpretation of Great Works of Art," Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1960, pp. 258-260, ill. p. 259.
"The World of Art: A Study of Painting," Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, 1965, p. 50, ill.
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, pp. 25, 67, no. 73, cover page, ill.
K. R. Greenfield, "The Museum Its First Half Century," "Annual I," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1966, p. 83, ill.
Baltimore Museum of Art. Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection. Revised edition. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, cover (detail) and page 25, no. 73.
Jean Guichard-Meili, "Henri Matisse, Son Oeuvre, Son Univers," Paris: Fernand Hazan Editeur, 1967, pp. 108, 250, fig. 102, ill. (Published as "La robe violette")
Jean Guichard-Meili, "Matisse," New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967, p. 248, no. 102, ill. (Published as "Mauve Dress")
Remigius Netzer, "Er Gab der Farbe Neuen Glanz: Henri Matisse," "Epoca," August 1968, no. 8, p. 39, ill. (Published as "Das violette Kleid")
"Entertainment," "Omaha World-Herald Magazine," October 10, 1971, p. 1, ill.
William A. McGonagle, "The Thirties Decade: American Artists and their European Contemporaries," Omaha, NE: Joslyn Art Museum, 1971, pp. 34, 68, no. 143, ill.
Makoto Ooka, "Bonnard/Matisse," Tokyo: Jahuo Press, 1972, p. 67.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art: A Benefit Exhibition at Wildenstein," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1974, no. 36.
"Masterpieces or World Art from American Museums from Ancient Egyptian to Contemporary Art," Tokyo: The National Museum of Western Art, 1976, no. 55, ill.
Israel Rosen, "The Cone Sisters: Myths, Realities and Some Conjectures," "Helicon Nine, the Journal of Women's Arts and Letters," Winter 1983, no. 9, p. 85.
Graham Hopwood, "Handbook of Art," North Balwyn, Victoria, Australia: Graham Hopwood, 1985, p. 115, fig. 380, ill.
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 32, 94-95, 190, 202, pp. 32, 95, ill.
Lydia Delectorskaya, "…l'apparente facilité…Henri Matisse, Peintures de 1935-1939," Paris: Adrien Maeght, 1986, pp. 31, 216, ill. p. 216. (Published as "La Robe Violette aux Anemones")
Guy Hubbard, "Art in Action," Chicago: Coronado Publishers, 1986, pp. 111, 260, p. 111, ill.
Dean M. Larson, "Studying with the Masters: Lessons from Rubens, Velazquez, Turner, Degas, Monet, Sargent, Matisse," New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1986, p. 130, ill.
Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, "Matisse: Le Rythme et la Ligne," Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, p. 312, ill.
Lisa Malcolm and Sally Dewar, "About Art," Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia, 1989, p. 52, ill. p. 53.
"Modern-Art Exhibit Typifies Symbiotic Relationship," "Beaumont Enterprise," December 17, 1993, ill. p. 4.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art," "MFA Today," November/December 1993, p. 3.
Susan Chadwick, "An Eye for Art," "The Houston Post," November 21, 1993, p. 16, ill. p. 16.
Patricia C. Johnson, "MFA to Exhibit Cone Collection," "The Houston Chronicle," June 2, 1993, Section D.
Susie Kalil, "The Joy of Color, the Ecstasy of Form," "Houston Press," December 23, 1993, p. 27.
Peggy Roalf, "Looking at Paintings: Flowers," New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1993, pp. 36-37, 48, ill. p. 37.
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, "Henri Matisse Chez Bernheim-Jeune, vols. 1-2" Paris: Éditions Bernheim-Jeune, 1995, pp. 1357, 1444, no. 743, ill. (Published as "Les anémones et la femme à la robe violette")
E. D. Hirsch, Jr., and John Holdren, "What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing your Child for a Lifetime for Learning," New York: Doubleday, 1996, pp. 162, 288, p. 162, ill.
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. 42, 94-95, 159, back cover, no. 38, ill.
Yve-Alain Bois, "Matisse and Picasso," Paris: Flammarion, 1998, pp. 112, 266.
Rosalind Ragans, "SRA Art Connections, Level 3," Columbus, OH: SRA McGraw-Hill, 1998, n.p., ill.
John O'Brian, "Ruthless Hedonism: The American Reception of Matisse," Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 52, 53, 279, fig. 20, ill.
Sona K. Johnston and William R. Johnston, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse," London: Scala Publishers, 2000, pp. cover, front flap, 35, 152-153, 156, no. 57, ill.
Rosalind Ragans, "Art Talk, Third Edition" New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000, p. 24, fig. 2.1, ill.
Charles Darwent, "Double Vision," "The Independent," June 17, 2001, pp. 18, 21.
Jack Flam, "Matisse in the Cone Collection: The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pp. 9, 50, 106-107, 116, pl. 47, ill.
Valakos, Dorothy. Matisse for Kids. Brochure. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, unpaged.
Eric M. Zafran, "Impressionism to Surrealism from The Baltimore Museum of Art," Hartford: Wadsworth Atheneum, 2002, pp. 9, 19, cover page, no. 32, ill.
William Zimmer, "Following the Path of Gertrude Stein," "The New York Times," Sunday, February 17, 2002, section 14CN, p. 13, ill. p. 13.
Kay Alexander, "Drawing and Painting Activities: Using Masterworks as Inspiration," Glenview, IL: Crystal Productions Co., 2003, p. 54, ill.
Ann Dumas, Kathleen Brunner, Jack Flam, Rémi Labrusse, Hilary Spurling and Dominique Szymusiak, "Matisse, His Art and His Textiles: The Fabric of Dreams," London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2004, pp. 130, 186, 212, no. 43, ill.
"The Fabric of Dreams: Matisse, his Art and his Textiles," "The New York Times," July 12, 2005, p. A9, ill.
Donald Miller, "A Coup for Naples," "Naples Daily News," February 4, 2005, p. D1, ill.
"Programs & Special Events," "BMA Today," Fall 2008, p. 15, ill.
Ellen B. Hirschland and Nancy Hirschland Ramage, "The Cone Sisters of Baltimore: Collecting at Full Tilt," Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2008, pp. 147, 165-168, 277, fig. 7.14, ill.
Sean Scully, "The Art of the Stripe," Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College, 2008, pp. 1-2, 129, p. 1, ill.
Dominique Szymusiak, Marie-Thérèse Pulvenis de Séligny, Wanda de Guébriant, Irina Antonova, "Lydia D. Lydia Delectorskaya, Muse et Modèle de Matisse," Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2010, pp. 130-131, 214, p. 131, ill. (Published as "Robe violette et anemones")
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 31.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014.
Gaude, Alexander, Ann-Katrin Hahn, Markus Müller, and Marie-Thérèse Pulvenis de Seligny. Henri Matisse: Nice, le rêve des odalisques: [exhibition, Nice, Musée Matisse, 21 juin - 29 septembre 2014]. Cologne: Wienand; [Antwerp]: Pandora Publishers, 2014, page 126, fig. 13 (published as “Robe mauve et anémones”).
Christie’s London. Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. Tuesday February 28, 2017. London, 2017, p. 62, lot 13, ill.
Core Knowledge Foundation. Art Resources: Kindergarten. Charlottesville, VA: Core Knowldege Foundation, 2020. illus. #6
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf, eds., "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, August 6, 1937; Paul Rosenberg, Paris
"Forbism and Cubism"
Matisse, Picasso, and the School of Paris
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Lydia D., muse et modèle de Matisse
Matisse, Life in Color: Masterworks From The Baltimore Museum of Art
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Henri Matisse: une palette d'objets
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Cone Wing Rotations 2020
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Cone Wing Rotations 2021
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Cone Wing Rotations 2023
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Cone Wing Rotations 2024
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Cone Wing Rotations 2025
Inscribed: Recto: Lower right, "Henri Matisse 37" Verso: The painting has been wax lined and there are no visible inscriptions on the verso.