Henri Matisse
Seated Odalisque, Left Knee Bent, Ornamental Background and Checkerboard
1927
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Henri Matisse
Seated Odalisque, Left Knee Bent, Ornamental Background and Checkerboard
1927
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 21 5/8 × 14 7/8 in. (54.9 × 37.8 cm.)
Framed: 28 1/2 × 22 × 4 in. (72.4 × 55.9 × 10.2 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.255
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 1950.427; 1950.432; 1950.428; and on 1950.1985.8-.9
(Please see Text Entries for image used with text label)
Publication References
"Art in Paris," "Formes," December 1929, no. 1, p. 28, ill.
Fritz Neugass, "Henri-Matisse 1869-1929," "Deutsche Kunst und Decoration," October 1928-March 1929, band 63, p. 374, ill. (Published as "Sitzende Odaliske")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1930, p.5/6, no. 18/39. (Published as "Odalisque" by Matisse)
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Henri Matisse Retrospective Exhibition," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1931, pp. 22, 53, no. 76. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, p. 24, pl. 50, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
"Art - Four New Exhibitions Open at Baltimore Museum," "The Baltimore Sun," May 13, 1934, p. 14, ill. (Published as "Girl in Green Pantaloons")
Riichiro Kawashima, "Matisse," Tokyo: Atelier-Sha, 1936, n.p., ill.
Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1941, p. 84. (Published as "Odalisque")
E.M. Benson and Gertrude Rosenthal "Themes and Variations in Painting and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1948, pp. 38, 64, no. 81, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
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. pp. 9, 16, ill. p. 9. (Published as "Odalisque")
"Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta, Collectors," "Art News," vol. XLVIII, no. 9, January 1950, p. 38, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
Doris Brian, "The Baltimore Museum's Cone Collection: A Pointed Star," "The Art Digest," January 15, 1950, vol. 24, no. 8, p. 21. (Published as "Odalisque")
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, pp. 215, 448, 557, 575, 588, ill. p. 448. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Clive Bell, "Modern French Painting: The Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1951, p. 22, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
Gertrude Rosenthal, "4000 Years of Modern Art," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," April - May 1953, vol. XVI, no. 4, p. 5, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
John C. Kirby, Elisabeth Packard and Gertrude Rosenthal, "4,000 Years of Modern Art," Baltimore: The Walters Art Gallery, 1953, pp. 25, 29, p. 25, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
"Art," "Gardens, Houses and People," December 1954, vol. XXIX, no. 12, p. 28, ill. (Published as "Odalisque")
Gaston Diehl, "Henri Matisse," Paris: Éditions Pierre Tisné, 1954, p. 83. (Published as "Odalisque Assise")
"Matisse: A Rare Collection Record," "Vogue" March 1, 1955, vol. 125, pp. 133, 135, ill. p. 135. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
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. 25, 36, no. 70, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Gertrude Rosenthal, "4,000 Years of Modern Art," Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1956, pp. 29, 40, 43, no. 95, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
"Art News International," "Art News," December 1956, vol. 55, no. 8, p. 61, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, "European Masters of Our Time," Boston: T.O. Metcalf, 1957, p. 24, no. 92, no. 70, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Lawrence L. Gruman and J. Thomas Leamon, "Modern Art - A Dialogue," "Children's Religion," May 1964, vol. 25, no. 5, p. 8, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
David Sylvester, ed., "The Book of Art: A Pictorial Encyclopedia of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture. Modern Art: From Fauvism to Abstract Expressionism, vol. 8," New York: Grolier, 1965, p. 89, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
"Gauguin and the Decorative Style," New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1966, n.p., ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Jean Guichard-Meili, "Matisse," New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967, p. 251, no. 197, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Jean Guichard-Meili, "Henri Matisse, Son Oeuvre, Son Univers," Paris: Fernand Hazan Editeur, 1967, pp. 193, 214, 250, fig. 197, ill. (Published as "Odalisque assise")
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, pp. 34, 67, no. 67, ill. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Jean Guichard-Meili, "Les Odalisques," in "XXe siècle: Hommage à Henri Matisse," 1970, p. 67, ill. (Published as "Odalisque assise")
Felix Marti-Ibañez, "The Adventure of Art," New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1970, pp. 572-573, 595, 600, ill. p. 572. (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Massimo Carrà and Mario Luzi, "L'opera di Matisse dalla rivolta 'fauve' all'intimismo 1904-1928," Milan: Rizzoli 1971, pp. 104, 105, 113, 114, no. 453, ill. (Published as "Odalisca Seduta")
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. 31 (Published as "Seated Odalisque")
Yusuke Nakahara and Ichiro Fukuzawa, "Pikaso to Machisu: rittaiha to yajuha, Grand Collection of World Art, vol. 23," Tokyo: Kodasha Ltd., 1974, p. 141, pl. 62, ill.
Pierre Schneider, Massimo Carrà and Xavier Deryng, "Tout l'Oeuvre Peint de Matisse 1904-1928," Paris: Flammarion, 1982, pp. 104-105, 115, no. 453, ill. (Published as "Odalisque Assise")
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 4, 34, 94, 198, 201, ill. pp. 4, 34.
Tom Krumpak, "Henri Matisse and Le Grand Interieur," "Designers West," March 1986, p. 219, ill.
Jack Cowart and Dominique Fourcade, "Henri Matisse The Early Years in Nice 1916-1930," New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, pp. 218-219, 327, 334, no.156, ill. (Published as "Odalisque assise, genou gauche replié, fond ornamental et damier/Seated Odalisque, Left Knee Bent, with Ornamental Background and Checkerboard")
Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, "Matisse: Le Rythme et la Ligne," Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, pp. 188, 311, 645, no. 209, ill. (Published as "Odalisque assise")
Janet Hobhouse, "Odalisques: What did they mean to Matisse?," "Connoisseur," January 1987, p. 64, ill.
Bernier, Rosamond. Matisse, Picasso, Miró: As I Knew Them. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991, page 32.
Susie Kalil, "The Joy of Color, the Ecstasy of Form," "Houston Press," December 23, 1993, p. 27.
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, "Henri Matisse Chez Bernheim-Jeune, vols. 1-2" Paris: Éditions Bernheim-Jeune, 1995, pp. 1292, 1443, no. 686, ill. (Published as "Orientale se tenant la jambe gauche")
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. 82-83, 159, no. 33, ill.
Charles Darwent, "Double Vision," "The Independent," June 17, 2001, pp. 18-19, ill.
Jack Flam, "Matisse in the Cone Collection: The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pp. 71, 73-74, 76, pl. 31, 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. 120, 185, 212, no. 30, ill.
Ellen B. Hirschland and Nancy Hirschland Ramage, "The Cone Sisters of Baltimore: Collecting at Full Tilt," Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2008, pp. 168-170, 218, 277, fig. 5 and 7.15, ill.
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, Sotheby's, London, June 22, 2010, Lot no. 14, p. 56, ill. p. 56. (Published as "Odalisque assise")
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 45, 75, 76, pl. 21, ill.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 53.
Hilarie M. Sheets, "'My Two Baltimore Ladies,'" "Art News," May 2011, vol. 110, no. 5, p. 48, ill.
Bishop, Janet and Katy Rothkopf eds. Matisse/Diebenkorn. New York: Prestel, 2016.
Aichele, Kathryn Porter. Modern Art on Display: the Legacies of Six Collectors. Lanham: University of Delaware Press, 2016, plate 5.
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, probably by 1930
Matisse, Picasso, and the School of Paris
Henri Matisse and Textiles
In Search of Orient
Matisse as Printmaker
Matisse and the Alhambra
Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore
Matisse, Life in Color: Masterworks From The Baltimore Museum of Art
Matisse in the Studio
Endgame. Duchamp,chess and the avantgarde
Matisse: Life in Colour
A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore
Re-Orientations
Cone Wing Rotations 2022
Cone Wing Rotations 2023
Matisse and His Orient
The Art of Pattern: Matisse & Japanese Woodblock Print Artists
A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940
Henri Matisse - Yves Saint Laurent
Inscribed: Recto: Lower right, "Henri Matisse"