Henri Matisse
Rumanian Blouse
1935
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Rumanian Blouse
1935
Physical Qualities
Pen and black ink on paper, Sheet: 512 × 381 mm. (20 3/16 × 15 in.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.12.48
Matisse frequently purchased items of clothing
for his models to wear in his ompositions, often choosing examples that featured interesting lines
or patterns. A richly colored and intricately embroidered blouse inspired a series of drawings, including this one, and culminated in his 1940 painting "The Rumanian Blouse." While Matisse described models as “the principal theme of my work,” his interest lay not “in the representation of their bodies, but often rather
in the lines…distributed over the whole canvas or paper, which form its complete orchestration,
its architecture.”
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore; purchased from the artist, 1936
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," 24 August - 14 October 1979.
BMA, "The Spirited Line," 7 September - 2 November 1986.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Jay Fisher, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from the Cone Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, 17 November, 1996 - 19 January, 1997; Seattle Art Museum 20 February - 20 April, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18 May - 13 July, 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.
BMA, Cone Wing rotation, November 2001.
Kimberly Schenck, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Matisse: Drawing Defined', Aug. 21-Nov. 10, 2002.
Kimberly Schenck, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Matisse: Drawing Defined', Aug. 21-Nov. 10, 2002.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, "Henri Matisse: Le laboratoire intérieur," November 30, 2016-March 6, 2017, cat 164.
Katy Rothkopf, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse: The Sinuous Line," (first rotation) December 12, 2021 - April 10, 2022.
BMA, "The Spirited Line," 7 September - 2 November 1986.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Jay Fisher, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from the Cone Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, 17 November, 1996 - 19 January, 1997; Seattle Art Museum 20 February - 20 April, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18 May - 13 July, 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.
BMA, Cone Wing rotation, November 2001.
Kimberly Schenck, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Matisse: Drawing Defined', Aug. 21-Nov. 10, 2002.
Kimberly Schenck, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Matisse: Drawing Defined', Aug. 21-Nov. 10, 2002.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, "Henri Matisse: Le laboratoire intérieur," November 30, 2016-March 6, 2017, cat 164.
Katy Rothkopf, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse: The Sinuous Line," (first rotation) December 12, 2021 - April 10, 2022.
Carlton Lake and Robert Mailland, "Dictionary of Modern Painting," NY: Tudor Publishers, 1964, illus. p. 225 (image reversed).
Jean Guichard-Meili, "Matisse," NY: Praeger, 1967, pl. 115.
"Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings in The Cone Collection," BMA, revised edition, 1967, cat. no. 277.
Guillaud, Maurice, and Jacqueline Guillaud. Matisse: le rythme et la ligne. Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, page 264, plate no. 264 (published as “La blouse roumaine”).
Jack Flam, "Matisse in The Cone Collection The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pl. 48, p. 109, ill.
M. Masayuki Tanaka and Mme. Isabelle Mono Fontaine. "Henri Matisse: Process/ Variation Exhibit Catalogue." Japan: The Yomiuri Shimbun/ The National Museum of Western Art, 2004, ill.
Musée Départemental Matisse. Lydia D.: Lydia Delectorskaya, Muse et Modèle de Matisse. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux; Le Cateau-Cambrésis: Musée Départemental Matisse; Nice: Musée Matisse, 2010, page 25.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 16.
Monod-Fontaine, Isabelle and Sylvie Ramond. Henri Matisse: Le Laboratoire Intérieur. Paris: Editions Hazan; Lyon: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2016.
Programme Culturel: September 2016-Mars 2017. Lyon: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2016.
Ramond, Sylvie and Isabelle Monod-Fontaine. Dossier De Presse: Henri Matisse: Le Laboratoire Intérieur. Lyon: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2016.
Inscribed: lower left in black ink: "Henri Matisse 36"
Markings: Watermark: MBM
