Matisse arrived in Nice in December 1917 and took a room at the Hôtel Beau-Rivage. He later wrote, "I left L'Estaque because of the wind, and I had caught bronchitis there. I came to Nice to cure it, and it rained for a month. Finally I decided to leave. The next day the mistral chased the clouds away and it was beautiful. I decided not to leave Nice, and have stayed there practically the rest of my life" (J. Cowart, Henri Matisse, The Early Years in Nice 1916-1930, Washington, 1986, p. 19). In February or March 1918, Matisse moved to an empty apartment next door to the Beau-Rivage at 105 quai des Etats-Unis. On 18 April, around the time Le Mont Chauve was painted he wrote to Camoin, "I am held here by the landscapes at the pass of Villefranche, above the station at Riquier near the tunnel, and I don't intend to return until I have gotten something good out of it...In the meantime, it has been raining for eight days and the sea is raging" (ibid, p. 20). Matisse was fascinated by the niçoise landscape as his letter of 23 May demonstrates, "Ah! Nice is a beautiful place! What a gentle and soft light in spite of its brightness! I don't know why I often compare it to that of the Touraine. Touraine light is more golden. Here it is silvered. Even the objects that it touches are very colored, such as the greens for example. I have often fallen on my face. After having written this declaration I am looking around the room where some of my daubs are hanging, and I think I've hit it sometimes - but it isn't certain." (ibid, p. 23)

The authenticity of this picture has been kindly confirmed by Mme. Wanda de Guébriant, dated Paris le 14 avril 1993