Henri Matisse

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York

Private Collection, Connecticut

Laurie Rubin Fine Art, New York

Acquired from the above in 2005

Nice, Musée Matisse, Le Noir et le blanc de l'automne, 2000-01, n.n.

This work is in very good condition. Artist pinholes are visible in each corner (as seen in the catalogue illustration). The work is hinged to the mount in upper right and left corners. The sheet has deckled edges along both the left and right edges. The medium is well-preserved and displays a strong contrast with the sheet tone. Faint light staining along all extreme edges. There are framer notations on the verso in pencil and an illegible circular Parisian stamp in violet ink measuring half an inch in diameter. There is a pencil mark five inches above the lower right corner on the lower edge of the sheet. The paper has time-darkened very lightly and the actual work is warmer and richer tonally than as illustrated in the catalogue.
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.

Between 1946 and 1948, Matisse concentrated on brush and ink drawings, a medium he had not used between his Fauve period and the early 1940s. The present work exemplifies a new level of intensity that Matisse reached in his exploration of black and white. Matisse himself spoke of "the special quality of brush drawing, which, though a restricted medium, has all the qualities of a painting or mural. It is always color that is put into play, even when the drawing consists of merely one continuous stroke. Black brush drawings contain, in small, the same elements as colored paintings... that is to say, differentations in the quality of the surfaces unified by light" (Henri Matisse, Henri Matisse: oeuvres récentes, 1947-48 (exhibition catalogue), Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1949, p. 21). Matisse's broadly-rendered black and white lines instantly capture both the viewer's eye and the artist's deeper conception of the space as a whole. 

Nature morte, fougères et grenades reflects Matisse's vibrant large-scale paintings of still lifes during this time, as Alfred H. Barr, Jr. writes, "The drawings of 1947-48 are not only closely related to paintings of the period in motif but rival them in scale and power" (Albert Barr, Matisse: His Art and His Public, New York, 1951, p. 276). Matisse's thick curves and quick strokes of simple black line manifest the most basic forms of a vase with flowers and fruit on a table, yet the dynamic gestures of the brush breathe life into the objects such that they appear to be expanding beyond the frame itself.