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Lot Essay
Reclining on a sumptuously upholstered chaise longue, the titular figure in Henri Matisse’s Odalisque (Femme étendue) gazes unabashedly towards the viewer, her cheek resting against her hand as she props herself up against the cushions behind her. She is dressed in rich costume, with swathes of ornately textured robes draped across her, gathering into thick folds of fabric as they flow over her sinuous body. Odalisque (Femme étendue) was executed circa 1921-1922 while the artist resided in Nice.
Matisse had first come to this city on the shore of the Mediterranean in late 1917, keen to escape the bitter cold of Paris winters. Enamoured by the quality of light in Nice, as well as its temperate climate, Matisse returned each winter, taking up residence at the Hôtel Méditerranée et de la Côte d’Azur, until September 1921. He would later rent an apartment of his own on the place Charles-Félix, which would become his base for almost two decades and the setting of some of his most celebrated works.
During Matisse’s initial sojourn in Nice in 1917, a mutual friend arranged for him to visit Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who lived in the nearby Cagnes-sur-Mer. By then in his late seventies, Renoir suffered from crippling arthritis but remained devoted to his art, painting every day except Sunday. Matisse deeply admired the old painter’s dedication and fortitude, and the two developed a friendship that lasted until Renoir’s death in 1919. The scholar Jack Flam noted the influence of their time together over Matisse’s pictorial output, declaring that ‘Renoir gave him the impetus to make new contact with his own sensuality’ (Matisse: The Man and his Art 1869-1918, New York, 1986, p. 473). Indeed, Renoir’s example inspired Matisse to shift away from the austerity of his wartime works, and to explore new ways of depicting volume, texture, and light, as well as establishing his enduring appreciation for the odalisque, which would remain a favoured subject over the following decades.
One of the most prominent themes of 19th century Orientalist paintings, the odalisque manifested in Western art as an alluring, seductive figure plucked from a European fantasy of life in the East. The motif had been canonised by a number of the century’s most revered French artists, such as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix, and so, when Matisse began to give more prevalence to the subject following the end of World War I, he place himself into a richly established tradition and into the legacy of these celebrated masters. Renoir, too, was a part of this art-historical lineage, and the sensuality that subsequently emerged in Matisse’s odalisques, as well as his preoccupation with the subject matter itself, was indubitably galvanised by the pair’s relationship. Matisse’s interest in Orientalist subject matter was informed by his trips to Algeria and Morocco in 1906 and 1912-1913, respectively. During these travels the artist had been enraptured by the brilliance of light, vivacity of colour, and the elegant rhythms of ornamental designs. He had collected textiles since his days as a poor art student in Paris, and had acquired vibrant pieces to add to his collection in the souks of Morocco and the bazaars of Algeria.
The majority of Matisse’s elaborate textiles and Oriental furnishing came from a small boutique on the rue Royale in Paris, run by a merchant of Lebanese origin, but imported garments and fabrics were also readily available in the marketplaces of Nice and Marseille. Hilary Spurling, a biographer of the artist, suggested that Matisse’s 1919 collaboration with the Ballets Russes for their 1920 production of Le Chant du Rossignol had introduced the potential of costume to him. Over the ensuing years, Matisse enthusiastically incorporated elements of Orientalist costume into his odalisques, and lavishly decorated his apartment on Place Charles-Félix with Middle Eastern fabrics, drapery and furniture.
The present lot pulsates with Matisse’s passionate appreciation for textiles and materiality, as his skilled draughtsmanship transforms the eponymous odalisque’s attire into a symphony of patterns and textures. With light, delicate lines he evokes the gauzy translucence of his model’s diaphanous undergarment, while with bolder, layered strokes of ink he conveys the differing textures of the elaborate finishings; the embroidered trefoils and floral motifs, the beaded trim on the neckline, the twining threads of the tasseled cords, and the rich cuffs. Her sensual physicality and her compelling gravitas are amplified by the intensity of the concentrated lines that constitute her form. Matisse renders her in a more naturalistic style of figuration than he adopts for the room around her, asserting the entrancing dominance of her presence over the surrounding space.
Matisse had first come to this city on the shore of the Mediterranean in late 1917, keen to escape the bitter cold of Paris winters. Enamoured by the quality of light in Nice, as well as its temperate climate, Matisse returned each winter, taking up residence at the Hôtel Méditerranée et de la Côte d’Azur, until September 1921. He would later rent an apartment of his own on the place Charles-Félix, which would become his base for almost two decades and the setting of some of his most celebrated works.
During Matisse’s initial sojourn in Nice in 1917, a mutual friend arranged for him to visit Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who lived in the nearby Cagnes-sur-Mer. By then in his late seventies, Renoir suffered from crippling arthritis but remained devoted to his art, painting every day except Sunday. Matisse deeply admired the old painter’s dedication and fortitude, and the two developed a friendship that lasted until Renoir’s death in 1919. The scholar Jack Flam noted the influence of their time together over Matisse’s pictorial output, declaring that ‘Renoir gave him the impetus to make new contact with his own sensuality’ (Matisse: The Man and his Art 1869-1918, New York, 1986, p. 473). Indeed, Renoir’s example inspired Matisse to shift away from the austerity of his wartime works, and to explore new ways of depicting volume, texture, and light, as well as establishing his enduring appreciation for the odalisque, which would remain a favoured subject over the following decades.
One of the most prominent themes of 19th century Orientalist paintings, the odalisque manifested in Western art as an alluring, seductive figure plucked from a European fantasy of life in the East. The motif had been canonised by a number of the century’s most revered French artists, such as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix, and so, when Matisse began to give more prevalence to the subject following the end of World War I, he place himself into a richly established tradition and into the legacy of these celebrated masters. Renoir, too, was a part of this art-historical lineage, and the sensuality that subsequently emerged in Matisse’s odalisques, as well as his preoccupation with the subject matter itself, was indubitably galvanised by the pair’s relationship. Matisse’s interest in Orientalist subject matter was informed by his trips to Algeria and Morocco in 1906 and 1912-1913, respectively. During these travels the artist had been enraptured by the brilliance of light, vivacity of colour, and the elegant rhythms of ornamental designs. He had collected textiles since his days as a poor art student in Paris, and had acquired vibrant pieces to add to his collection in the souks of Morocco and the bazaars of Algeria.
The majority of Matisse’s elaborate textiles and Oriental furnishing came from a small boutique on the rue Royale in Paris, run by a merchant of Lebanese origin, but imported garments and fabrics were also readily available in the marketplaces of Nice and Marseille. Hilary Spurling, a biographer of the artist, suggested that Matisse’s 1919 collaboration with the Ballets Russes for their 1920 production of Le Chant du Rossignol had introduced the potential of costume to him. Over the ensuing years, Matisse enthusiastically incorporated elements of Orientalist costume into his odalisques, and lavishly decorated his apartment on Place Charles-Félix with Middle Eastern fabrics, drapery and furniture.
The present lot pulsates with Matisse’s passionate appreciation for textiles and materiality, as his skilled draughtsmanship transforms the eponymous odalisque’s attire into a symphony of patterns and textures. With light, delicate lines he evokes the gauzy translucence of his model’s diaphanous undergarment, while with bolder, layered strokes of ink he conveys the differing textures of the elaborate finishings; the embroidered trefoils and floral motifs, the beaded trim on the neckline, the twining threads of the tasseled cords, and the rich cuffs. Her sensual physicality and her compelling gravitas are amplified by the intensity of the concentrated lines that constitute her form. Matisse renders her in a more naturalistic style of figuration than he adopts for the room around her, asserting the entrancing dominance of her presence over the surrounding space.