Henri Matisse
Study for ‘The Blue Eyes’
1935
Scroll
Henri Matisse
Study for ‘The Blue Eyes’
1935
Physical Qualities
Graphite with erasing on two joined sheets of paper, Sheet: 438 × 508 mm. (17 1/4 × 20 in.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.12.49
Matisse welcomed the compositional challenge of relating heads, arms, and elbows to the edge of the paper or canvas. The strip added to the top of this drawing allowed him to reposition the head and extend the arm straight so that it runs nearly parallel to the edge of the paper from elbow to fingers.
Model Resting on Her Arms revisits a theme from the earlier painting The Blue Eyes that interested Matisse and warranted further exploration. In the painting, however, the model’s lower arm approaches the side of the canvas at an angle, nearly bisecting its edge with the elbow, creating a very different composition.
Publication References
"Minotaure" (no. 9, October 1936), p. 2.
Gianni Testori, "Henri Matisse-25 Disegni" (Milan: Gorlich, 1943).
"Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings in the Cone Collection," BMA rev ed. 1967, cat 278, (not illus).
Musée National d'Art Moderne. Henri Matisse: Dessins et Sculpture: Musée National d'Art Moderne, 29 Mai - 7 Septembre 1975. [Paris]: Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, 1975, ill. page 134, plate 92.
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, ed., Matisse: 20 March - 17 May, 1981, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo: 26 May - 19 July, 1981, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. Tokyo: National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 142, 234-235, no. 128.
Elderfield, John. The Drawings of Henri Matisse. New York: Thames and Hudson, published in association with the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Arts Council of Great Britain, 1985, ill, page 172, plate 48.
Brenda Richardson. "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta," 1985, p. 133.
Dr. Betty Edwards, "Drawing on the Artist Within," NY: Simon & Schuster, 1986.
Guillaud, Maurice, and Jacqueline Guillaud. Matisse: le rythme et la ligne. Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, plate no. 301 (published as “Etude pour ‘Les yeux bleus”).
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "Matisse : Le Rêve out les belles endormies," Paris: Adam Biro, 1989, fig. 3.
Jeans Selz, "Matisse" (NY: Crown Publishers, 1990), illus. p. 75.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 55.
Bishop, Janet and Katy Rothkopf eds. Matisse/Diebenkorn. New York: Prestel, 2016.
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; purchased from the artist, 1936
Henri Matisse et Pierre Bonnard "Viva la peinture!"
Matisse: Menschen, Masken, Modelle
Lydia D., muse et modèle de Matisse
A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore
Inscribed: lower right in graphite: "Henri Matisse / 1936"
Markings: WM: MBM