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Cat. 1  Standing Female Nude Seen from the Back, 1900/01 Cat. 2  Self-Portrait, c. 1901 Cat. 3  The Serf, 1900–03 Cat. 4  Nude in Profile, 1903–04 Cats. 5–6  Boats, 1905 • Grounded Fishing Boat, 1905 Cats. 7–8  Madame Matisse with Her Fan, 1906 • Nude in a Folding Chair, 1906 Cats. 9–11  Woman Leaning on Her Hands, 1905 • Thorn Extractor, 1906 • Still Life with Geranium, 1906 Cats. 12–13  Standing Female Nude with Chair, 1907 • Seated Female Nude, One Foot on a Stool, 1910 Cats. 14–15  Small Crouching Nude without an Arm, 1908 • Standing Female Nude, Twisting toward Her Back, 1908 Cat. 16  Seated Female Nude, Holding One Knee, with a Sketch of a Foot, Aug. 1909 Cat. 17  Girl with a Cat, 1910 Cat. 18  Female Nude Lying Facedown on a Table, 1911/early 1912 Cat. 19  Portrait of Elsa Glaser, 1914 Cat. 20  Portrait of Walter Pach, 1914 Cats. 21–22  Still Life with Goldfish III, 1914/15 • Still Life with Goldfish V, 1914/15 Cat. 23  Young Girl with Braids, c. 1916 Cat. 24  Apples, 1916 Cat. 25  Bathers by a River, March 1909–10, May–November 1913, and early spring 1916–October (?) 1917 Cat. 26  Laurette with a Cup of Coffee, 1916–17 Cats. 27–28  Woman with a Shawl, in a Garden, c. 1918 • Young Girl with Long Hair, c. 1919 Cat. 29  Girl in Plumed Hat (Mlle Antoinette), 1919 Cat. 30  Interior at Nice, 1919 or 1920 Cat. 31  Reclining Nude, c. 1920 Cat. 32  Portrait of Léonide Massine, 1920 Cat. 33  Woman on a Rose Divan, 1921 Cat. 34  Woman before an Aquarium, 1921–23 Cats. 35–37  Reclining Female Nude with a Raised Knee, 1923/24 • Seated Nude with Arms Raised, c. 1925 • Seated Nude, 1922–29, cast 1951 Cat. 38  Seated Woman with Full-Skirted Dress, c. 1926 Cat. 39  Lemons on a Pewter Plate, 1926 Cat. 40–41  Dancer Resting, 1927 • Seated Dancer, 1927 Cat. 42  Young Woman with a Veil, 1929 Cat. 43  Portrait of John Dewey, 1930/34 Cats. 44–45  Study for Anemones and Woman (Study for “Odalisque, Harmony in Blue”), 1937 • Anemones in a Vase, 1944 Cat. 46  Girl in Yellow and Blue with a Guitar, 1939 Cat. 47  Daisies, 1939 Cats. 48–49  Head of a Woman, 1941 • Head of a Woman, 1942 Cat. 50  Matisse’s Dining Room—1941, 1941 Cat. 51  Blue Vase on a Venetian Armchair, 1943 Cats. 52–54  Girl at a Table, 1944 • Young Woman before a Table, 1944 • Woman Seated at a Table with Fruit and Pitcher, 1944 Cat. 55  Bust of a Woman, 1944 Cat. 56  Untitled, 1947 Cat. 57  Head, 1947 Cat. 58  Oceania, the Sea, 1948

At the top, a person’s head is outlined in thick black lines, turned to the left, with rounded shapes along the crown and an ear on the left. The head outline is large and fills most of the page; below it, broad curves mark the neck and shoulder, with two short black strokes at the center of the neck area. Near the lower edge, several small clustered black shapes are spaced across the garment and corners. The drawing uses black lines on a white background, with small handwritten text in the bottom right.

Cat. 57

Head
Paris or Vence, July 1947
Brush and black ink on ivory wove paper; 52.8 × 40.5 cm (20 3/4 × 16 in.)
Signed and dated: H-Matisse Juill 47 (lower right, in pen and black ink)
The Art Institute of Chicago, bequest of Rue Winterbotham Shaw, 1979.271

In 1946, Henri Matisse began a series of brush drawings using thick, black lines of ink, usually to depict the face of one of his sitters or a still-life from his studio in the Villa le Rêve in Vence. Among the works is this spare brush-and-ink drawing of his model Tati and a number of related images from the same time (see fig. 57.1, fig. 57.2, fig. 57.3, and fig. 57.4). Matisse drew her likeness in several long, fluid lines of black ink, which were applied to the sheet of paper with a flat, square brush, allowing us to trace the journey of his hand across the page as it moved from left to right swiftly, yet in a relaxed manner. There is little sign of hesitation in Matisse’s recording of Tati except for where his brush paused before describing the sitter’s lips, nose, eyebrows, and neck. The rest of her form is quite simple—her neckline is only a curve with a sharp drop-off to represent her shoulder and her ear is a basic C shape with a squiggle denoting its many interior folds. Her head is adorned with a headband (or perhaps a braid wrapped across the top of her head), represented by a single, thick, wavy line.
1

Figs. 57.1–57.4

From top to bottom, thick black wavy lines outline rounded hair across the upper area. Below, curved black lines form the neck and shoulders, ending in a wide ruffled collar that stretches left to right near the bottom. A single figure is front-facing, large and centered, shown with black lines on a white background and no other elements present.

Fig. 57.1


Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Bust of a Woman (Tati), July 1947. Brush and India ink on paper; 53 × 40.6 cm (20 7/8 × 16 in.). Private collection.

Top: wavy black hair outlines the upper area. Center: a person shown from the shoulders up wears a large rounded collar with pointed tips; on the left, a bent arm lifts toward the center, and the sleeve is marked with small black flower shapes. Bottom: the clothing continues with scattered small black floral motifs on a white background, with the head and collar taking up most of the space and the flowers appearing small in comparison.

Fig. 57.2


Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Jeune fille accoudée, July 1947. Brush and ink; 52.1 × 40 cm (20 1/2 × 15 3/4 in.). Private collection.

Top section shows a black wavy band forming a head covering that curves from left to right, with a rounded ear visible on the upper left. The middle features a large, thick black outline of a head and neck leading into a wide, curved neckline that occupies much of the lower half. Around the lower area, several small, solid black flower-like shapes appear at the left, center, and right with short curling stems near the outline. Colors are black lines and shapes on a white background, and there is small handwriting near the lower left edge.

Fig. 57.3


Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Tête de jeune fille (Tati), July 1947. Brush and ink on paper; 53 × 40.5 cm (20 7/8 × 16 in.). Location unknown.

At the top, bold black wavy lines curve in a rounded band above and around a head shape. Moving downward, thick black lines outline a neck and shoulders, with a wide collar made of layered, wavy edges that stretches almost the full width. Near the bottom, several small black blot-like shapes are scattered around the collar, all set against a light beige background.

Fig. 57.4


Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Tête d’une jeune fille, July 1947. Brush and India ink on paper; 52.8 × 40.6 cm (21 3/4 × 16 in.). Location unknown.

Each of the drawings of Tati from July 1947 is rendered on the same size of sheet; paired with the relaxed manner in which they were made, this suggests that they may all have been executed in one sitting. Little is known about the model, but a similar-looking girl with the same hairstyle appears on the right side of Matisse’s painting Young Girls, Blue Window (fig. 57.5) from the same month.
2

Top left shows a maroon wall with dark lines and small light marks, while a large blue window occupies the upper center and a cluster of green leaves and blue branches fills the upper right. In the middle, two people are seated; the left person wears a bright yellow garment with light yellow hair, and the right person has short reddish hair and a white garment. In the foreground, a black tabletop holds a white plate with round orange and purple items, a tall white cup, and a white vase on the right with dark blue stems and yellow round flowers.

Fig. 57.5


Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Young Girls, Blue Window, July 1947. Oil on canvas; 62.2 × 50.3 cm (24 1/2 × 19 13/16 in.). Private collection.

The looser, free-flowing lines with which Matisse composed Tati’s wavy hair and floral shirt highlight the luminosity present in such flat, black-and-white drawings. The ink in these areas is slightly transparent and the white from the page fluoresces through the black. Furthermore, the brightness of the paper is amplified by the contrast of the black ink. Indeed, in such brilliant black-and-white compositions, Matisse sought the same effect he had earlier attained in colored images in which he would juxtapose a bright blue or red with black paint. He identified this in the text of a 1949 exhibition catalogue of recent works, stating, “I have noticed that drawings done with a brush and black ink contain, on a small scale, the same elements as a painting in color, that is to say, the differentiation of the quality of the surfaces in a unit of light. This becomes very obvious when the drawing is placed in shadow. The drawing generates light.”[1] Matisse viewed the white sheet of paper in his black ink drawings much like a vibrant red painted on canvas—both the white sheet and the red paint appear brighter, thus generating more light, when placed in contrast with the color black.[2] In the Art Institute’s drawing, Matisse’s use of the color goes beyond linear construction. As he did throughout his oeuvre, the artist used black here as an expressive element—providing a construct of color where there appears to be none.[3]
Mel Becker Solomon3

Technical Summary4

Choosing a flat, square brush approximately 1 cm wide, Henri Matisse took full advantage of the fluidity of the ink, sweeping his brush in broad, curving lines of deep black. The drawing is an economic assembly of curving and arcing brushstrokes. The artist chose the smoother side of the ivory wove sheet, which allowed for fluid strokes uninterrupted by surface texture. The sheet is well sized; this allowed the ink to flow across the surface without being absorbed into the paper laterally. It also allowed the paper to accept the fluid media without cockling. There are pinholes at the top corners indicating Matisse either pinned the paper to a board to draw upon or tacked the finished work to the wall, as was his habit.
5

Signature

Signed and dated: H-Matisse Juill 47 (lower right, in pen and black ink) (fig. 57.6).
6

On an off‑white background, the left edge shows a series of thick, rounded black brushstrokes, while a smaller curved black stroke sits near the upper right edge. Along the lower right edge, small black cursive handwriting reads “H. Matisse Juil. 47,” with a dot before the initials. The brushstrokes are larger and heavier than the fine script, with wide blank space separating these elements.

Fig. 57.6


Detail of Matisse’s Head (1947) showing the artist’s signature. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1979.271.

Media and Support7

Media8

Matisse drew using a brush and black ink. The ink is glossy, indicating the presence of a resinous binder. Under ultraviolet light (254 nm) a resinous binder in the ink emits a whitish fluorescence visible from the verso of the sheet.
9

Support10

The support is medium-thick, smooth, ivory wove paper.[4] There is a watermark in the lower left corner: Arches (1 × 3 cm) (see fig. 57.7).[5]
11

A gray, textured surface fills the frame. Near the center-right, the word “ARCHES” appears in small, dark letters. Along the lower left edge, a white measurement scale labeled “30mm” with evenly spaced tick marks runs horizontally, and the lower right edge shows a small, irregular white patch.

Fig. 57.7


Beta radiograph showing the watermark in the lower left corner of Matisse’s Head (1947). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1979.271. 

The paper fibers are uniform in color and type. Transmitted light reveals them to be evenly distributed. There is a fine screen pattern on the verso (fig. 57.8), which is barely evident on the recto. The top and bottom have a deckle edge. The right and left have an imitation deckle edge, indicating that the paper is moldmade. The sheet dimensions are original.
12

At the top, a large pale outline of a head in left profile fills most of the space, with short wavy hair, a rounded ear, and a closed eye drawn in light gray on an off-white ground. Moving downward, the nose and full lips are outlined, and the neck curves into broad shoulders that extend across the lower half. Near the lower left and lower right are small, faint rounded shapes, with a few light marks along the bottom edge.

Fig. 57.8


Verso of Matisse’s Head (1947). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1979.271.

Dimensions13

52.8 × 40.5 cm (20 3/4 × 16 in.).
14

Conservation15

Examination and Treatment History16

Examination indicates that the work has not undergone conservation treatment.[6]
17

Condition Summary18

The drawing is in good condition. A fine network of cracks is evident in the densest passages of ink when viewed under magnification 80×. There is residual adhesive at all corners on the verso from previous hinges. Paper fibers from old hinges are embedded in the residual adhesive at the top and bottom of the left edge of the verso. The adhesive remnants on the verso create draws and distortions evident in raking light.
Kristi Dahm
19

Rue Winterbotham Shaw (Nov. 18, 1905–Jan. 29, 1979), Chicago, by Jan. 29, 1979.[7]20

Estate of Rue Winterbotham Shaw, Chicago, Jan. 29, 1979–May 14, 1979.[8]21

Bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, May 14, 1979.[9]
22

Inscriptions and Distinguishing Marks23

Verso24

Number
Location: lower right
Method: graphite
Content: dim: 40,4 × 52.5 [in a box] (fig. 57.9)
25

From top to bottom, a cream background with no distinct features leads to a narrow, horizontal band of very light gray marks near the center. Left to right, a thin rectangular outline encloses faint, partially legible letters and numbers, with a small looping mark toward the right end. The marks are small and low-contrast, occupying a short strip across the middle of the page.

Fig. 57.9


Inscription
Location: center lower edge
Method: graphite
Content: M I S S (fig. 57.10)
26

Centered on a pale off-white background are faint gray lines that read left to right as M, I, S, S. The thin letters are similar in height and spaced loosely, occupying a small area in the middle while the surrounding background is empty.

Fig. 57.10


Inscription
Location: lower left corner
Method: graphite
Content: ph (fig. 57.11)[10]
27

Top section shows a pale off-white background with very faint gray smudges near the upper center. Toward the lower-right, there is a small yellow-brown stain and a few lighter spots, all much smaller than the overall area. Along the far right edge, a narrow vertical black strip runs from top to bottom; the rest of the surface is mostly uniform.

Fig. 57.11


Examination Conditions and Scientific Analysis28

The media and their application, as well as the condition of the artwork, were assessed through visual examination using normal, transmitted, and raking light; microscope magnification (80–300×); and ultraviolet-light examination (254 and 365 nm). The beta radiograph was recorded using a Konica Minolta Regius Σ imaging plate (FP-1S) and a Konica Minolta Direct Digitizer Regius ΣII computed radiography scanner with ImagePilot software set on low–image processing intensity.
29

Notes

  1. Henri Matisse in Musée National d’Art Moderne, Henri Matisse: Oeuvres récentes, 1947–48, exh. cat. (Musée National d’Art Moderne, 1949), p. 21, as translated in Queensland Art Gallery, Matisse: Drawing Life, exh. cat. (Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, 2011), p. 295. See also John Elderfield, The Drawings of Henri Matisse, exh. cat. (Arts Council of Great Britain/Museum of Modern Art, New York/Thames & Hudson, 1984), p. 128.
  2. For more on Matisse’s paintings from 1947 and 1948 that exhibit his use of contrast, see Rebecca Rabinow, “Radiant Color,” in Matisse: In Search of True Painting, exh. cat., ed. Dorthe Aageson and Rebecca Rabinow (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2012), pp. 175–81.
  3. Art historian Jack Flam notes Matisse’s use of black as an expressive element rather than a linear construction in Flam, Matisse on Art, rev. ed. (University of California Press, 1995), pp. 165–66, 291n5. See also John Elderfield “Drawn Paintings,” in Queensland Gallery of Art, Matisse, p. 294.
  4. Descriptions of paper thickness and texture follow the standard set forth in Elizabeth Lunning and Roy Perkinson, The Print Council of America Paper Sample Book: A Practical Guide to the Description of Paper (Print Council of America/Sun Hill, 1996).
  5. This Arches watermark appears in three other Matisse drawings in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection: Matisse’s Dining Room—1941 (1941; cat. 50), Head of a Woman (1942; cat. 49), and Blue Vase on a Venetian Armchair (1943; cat. 51). The mark designates a particular ivory, moldmade drawing paper. “Matisse often used this paper for his drawings. It also appears frequently in the smaller cut-outs of the late 1940s and, occasionally, in large cut-outs of the 1950s.” Antoinette King, “Technical Appendix,” in Jack Cowart, Henri Matisse: Paper Cut-Outs, with Jack D. Flam, Dominique Fourcade, John Hallmark Neff, John Haletsky, and Antoinette King, exh. cat. (Saint Louis Art Museum, 1977), p. 272.
  6. Mary Cropley, condition and treatment report, Jan. 3, 1980, conservation object file, Department of Prints and Drawings, Art Institute of Chicago. Hinges were removed from the perimeter on the verso.
  7. Committee on Prints and Drawings meeting minutes, Apr. 17, 1979, p. 7; photocopy in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
  8. Committee on Prints and Drawings meeting minutes, Apr. 17, 1979, p. 7; and Board of Trustees meeting minutes, May 14, 1979, p. 1; photocopies in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
  9. Committee on Prints and Drawings meeting minutes, Apr. 17, 1979, pp. 6–7; Board of Trustees meeting minutes, May 14, 1979, p. 1; photocopies in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
  10. “Ph” is an abbreviation for “photo,” indicating the drawing was photographed. Wanda de Guébriant to Emily Ziemba, email correspondence, Apr. 6, 2017, photocopy in curatorial object file, Department of Prints and Drawings, Art Institute of Chicago.

How to Cite

Entry by Mel Becker Solomon, technical report by Kristi Dahm, "Cat. 57 Head, 1947," in Matisse Paintings, Works on Paper, Sculpture, and Textiles at the Art Institute of Chicago, rev ed. (2019; repr., Art Institute of Chicago, 2025), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865593022/51

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