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Henri Matisse

French, 1869-1954

Le grand nu (The Large Nude), 1906

lithograph on Chine paper

Edition: 2/50

sheet: 17 5/16 x 13 5/8 inches (43.97 x 34.61 cm)

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Gift of A. Conger Goodyear, 1949

P1949:40.25B

More Details

Inscriptions

signature, undated / front, lower right / Henri-Matisse

edition notation / front, lower right / tirage à cinquante exemplaire / epr. no. 2

Provenance

collection of A. Conger Goodyear;
donated to the Albright Art Gallery, September 16, 1949

Class

Prints (visual works)

Work Type

Lithograph

This information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms

In this densely worked image, Henri Matisse portrayed the female body as a highly volumetric form. Devoid of details—faceless, hairless, smooth, and evenly rounded—she is an anonymous, yet sensual object. Up until this point, the artist frequently made transfer lithographs, which involved sketching the image on paper before transferring it to a lithographic stone. In creating this print, he drew directly on the stone for the first time. Matisse achieved the overall composition in a way that is similar to making a sculpture: adding in some areas and taking away from others. The result is a strikingly abstract figure comprising simplified geometric forms that foreshadows the deceptively minimal, yet complex characters he would develop in his later Jazz portfolio.

Label from Matisse and the Art of Jazz, January 20–July 1, 2018