Henri Matisse

Private Collection, France
Sale: Briest Scp., December 13, 1997, lot 15
Dickinson Roundell Inc., New York

Paris, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, 1850-1950, Tableaux de Collections Parisiennes, 1955

Lydia Delectorskaya, Henri Matisse, L'apparente facilité, peintures de 1935-1939, Paris, 1988, illustrated p. 278
Hilary Spurling, Matisse the Master, A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest of Color, 1909-1954, New York, 2005, discussed p. 382

Excellent Condition. Original canvas. The dark blue pigment, the white background atht eh upper left, and the yellow pigment in the fireplace shows a very faint and stable pattern of craquelure. There is very faint horizontal stretcher bar mark. The surface retains considerable freshness and the artist's incized marks lend an energy to the surface. Under UV light there is one pinhead-size dot of inpainting to the left of woman's face in the upper left corner, otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Early in the year in 1938, Matisse received a commission from Nelson A. Rockefeller to paint a large composition to surround the mantel of his Manhattan duplex (see figure 1).   The artist began work on his preliminary designs that October, after settling into his new apartment and studio in the Hôtel Regina in Nice.  From the outset of the project Matisse was meticulous in his planning and execution, predetermining every color and detail of the composition before turning to his monumental canvas.  He developed a scene with four female figures whose bodies would frame the contours of the fireplace, and over the following weeks he continually enhanced his design, adjusting individual elements so that they better harmonized within the composition.  Although the present work has commonly been called La Poesie, recent scholarship has referred to it as Le Chant, due to the figure in the lower left who appears to be singing.

Matisse used two models, Lydia Delectorskaya and Hélène Galitzine, to pose for the four figures in this composition.   Both of the women had posed for another painting from earlier in the year called Le Jardin d'Hiver (also known as the Conservatory), and their forms in that picture were incorporated into the present work and later in 1939, La Musique.  For Le Chant, the two women sat for several preliminary sketches, including the present work, in which the artist rendered them reading or listening to the recitation.   Lydia, who also assisted Matisse on many of his large compositions, helped pin the tracing papers and clean the surface of the canvas as Matisse repeatedly changed his color choices.  The project took over a month to complete.  Alfred H. Barr provided the following succinct explanation of the genesis of this work: "For his principal theme he used the motif of the two seated girls he had already studied so precisely in the Pulitzer Conservatory.  For the Rockefeller panel, he now arranged the figures in graceful opposing curves in the upper part of the tall panel which he had divided into halves of contrasting color.  Below them appears another pair on either side of the fireplace itself.  One of these is singing, resting her music on the real mantelpiece which also supports the arms and head of the other girl who has closed her eyes" (Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Matisse, His Art and his Public, New York, 1951, p. 252).


Fig. 1  Henri Matisse, Le Chant, 1938, oil on canvas, Private Collection