Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Matisse experimented with Cubism in 1914-1916. In his drawings the contours of faces and objects become harder and more abstract than previously, and in some portrait drawings the sitter's features are radically simplified and schematic, as if the artist is deconstructing his subject. However, while the impact of Cubism served to reinforce a sculptural and volumetric aspect in depicting the figure, it remained a discipline that seemed superimposed on the subject rather than one that evolved from it. Perhaps for this reason, and also responding to the more traditional classicizing trend that began to emerge in French painting near the end of the First World War, Matisse quickly resumed drawing in a more naturalistic manner by 1917. The present study displays the firm, decisive contours of the earlier period, while there is also a softer, more rounded look in the modeling of the figure. This tendency to rely more upon shading to complement line becomes increasingly characteristic of Matisse's drawing by 1920, when the artist compiled the landmark collection of his recent drawings which his dealer Bernheim-Jeune published as Cinquante Dessins.