Henri Matisse
Venus in a Shell I
1929
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Henri Matisse
Venus in a Shell I
1929
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 12 1/16 x 7 x 8 in. (30.6 x 17.8 x 20.3 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.439
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, 1931; the artist, Paris
"A Century of Progress Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture", June-November 1933, no. 1166.
"Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 13, 1951-January 13, 1952; The Cleveland Museum of Art February 5-March 16, 1952; The Art Institute of Chicago, April 1-May 1, 1952; The San Francisco Museum of Art, May 21-July 6, 1952.
"The Cone Collection", M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 24-February 19, 1955.
"The Versatile Shell", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, September 28-November 17, 1963.
"The Baltimore Museum of Art Loan Exhibition", Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, OH, November 9-December 4, 1967.
"Cone Collection", Wildenstein Gallery, New York, March 29-May 4, 1974.
Brenda Richardson, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Matisse in The Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", August 24-October 14, 1979.
"The Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection", BMA produced, circulated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14-February 9, 1986.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
"Matisse and Modern Masters from The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 3-December 28, 1996; Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, January 8-February 11, 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.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash; BMA, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor", Dallas, January 21-April 29, 2007; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 9-September 16, 2007; The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 28, 2007-February 3, 2008, no. 123.
"Matisse Retrospective Exhibition", The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 13, 1951-January 13, 1952; The Cleveland Museum of Art February 5-March 16, 1952; The Art Institute of Chicago, April 1-May 1, 1952; The San Francisco Museum of Art, May 21-July 6, 1952.
"The Cone Collection", M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 24-February 19, 1955.
"The Versatile Shell", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, September 28-November 17, 1963.
"The Baltimore Museum of Art Loan Exhibition", Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, OH, November 9-December 4, 1967.
"Cone Collection", Wildenstein Gallery, New York, March 29-May 4, 1974.
Brenda Richardson, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Matisse in The Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", August 24-October 14, 1979.
"The Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection", BMA produced, circulated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14-February 9, 1986.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
"Matisse and Modern Masters from The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, October 3-December 28, 1996; Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, January 8-February 11, 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.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash; BMA, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor", Dallas, January 21-April 29, 2007; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 9-September 16, 2007; The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 28, 2007-February 3, 2008, no. 123.
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland" (Baltimore: 1934) pl. 123c.
'Cone Bequest,' "BMA News," Oct. 1949, p. 26, no. 126.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951) 217-18, 461, 557.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection," (Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 45, no. 159.
"A Picture Book, Baltimore Museum of Art,(Baltimore: BMA, 1955) 63.
"Handbook of the Cone Collection, Revised Edition," (Baltimore: BMA, 1967) 54, no. 148.
Albert Elsen, 'The Sculpture of Matisse,' "Art Forum," vol. VII, #2, Oct. 1968, p. 22f.
Albert Elsen, "The Sculpture of Matisse," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972) 197-203.
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "The Sculpture of Henri Matisse," (London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984) cat. # 65.
Monod-Fontaine, Isabelle. Matisse: Œuvres de Henri Matisse. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1989, page 226, fig. a (published as “Vénus à la coquille I”).
Senzoku, Nobuyuki, ed. Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art = Kon korekushon ten. [Tokyo]: "Kon Korekushon" Ten Katarogu Iinkai, 1996, page 123, no. 65.
Jack Flam, "Matisse in The Cone Collection The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pl. 38, p. 86, ill.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor," (Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2007) cat. no. 123, p. 276, ill. pp. 245, 246, 248.
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf (eds). "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.
Inscribed: "HM 3/10"
Markings: "Cire - C. Valsuani- perdue"
