Notwithstanding their kinship with earlier works by Ingres and Delacroix, the harem pictures Matisse made in Nice, such as this odalisque of 1927, had a more practical basis. As Matisse explained: "I paint odalisques in order to paint the nude. Otherwise, how is the nude to be painted without being artificial? But also, I know they exist. I was in Morocco. I saw them."
the artist (1927–50; sold in autumn 1950 to Sam Salz, probably as an intermediary for Haupt); Mr. and Mrs. Ira Haupt, New York (by 1951–his d. 1963); Mrs. Ira (Enid A.) Haupt, New York (1963–83; sold in 1983 to Annenberg); her brother and his wife, Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, Rancho Mirage, California (1983–97; jointly with MMA, 1997–his d. 2002; his bequest to MMA)
London. Victoria and Albert Museum. "Exhibition of Paintings by Picasso and Matisse," December 1945, no. 7 (as "Odalisque à la culotte grise," 1928, lent by the artist).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Henri Matisse," November 13, 1951–January 13, 1952, no. 61 (as "Reclining Odalisque," 1928, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Ira Haupt, New York).
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Henri Matisse," February 5–March 16, 1952, no. 61.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Henri Matisse," April 1–May 4, 1952, no. 61.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Henri Matisse," May 22–July 6, 1952, no. 61.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 21–September 17, 1989, unnumbered cat. (p. 121; as "Odalisque with Gray Trousers").
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 6–August 5, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," August 16–November 11, 1990, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," June 4–October 13, 1991, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Matisse, His Art and His Textiles: The Fabric of Dreams," June 23–September 25, 2005, no. 28 (as "Odalisque with Grey Culottes").
Jean Cassou. Matisse. London, 1948, pp. 12, 14, colorpl. 5, calls it "Odalisque in Grey Trousers (Odalisque à la culotte grise)" and dates it 1918; locates it in the artist's collection.
André Lejard. Matisse. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 1948]. Paris, [1952], unpaginated, no. 7, ill., calls it "Odalisque" and dates it 1925; locates it in a private collection.
Raymond Escholier with introduction and notes on illustrations by R. H. Wilenski. Matisse: A Portrait of the Artist and the Man. New York, 1960, p. 13, colorpl. E, calls it "Odalisque à la culotte grise," 1927, in a private collection.
Susan Lambert. Matisse Lithographs. Exh. cat., Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 1972, p. 72 under no. 47, calls it "Odalisque à la culotte gris"; notes its similarity to the lithograph "Odalisque, Brazier, and Cup of Fruit" (1929; MMA 2002.456.95).
Dominique Fourcade and Isabelle Monod-Fontaine. Henri Matisse: Dessins et sculpture. Exh. cat., Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne. Paris, 1975, p. 118 under no. 76, call it "Odalisque à la culotte grise"; note its similarity to the drawing "Seated Odalisque, Ornamental Ground, Flowers, and Fruit (1927; Archives Matisse, Paris).
Marguerite Duthuit-Matisse, and Claude Duthuit, with Françoise Garnaud. Henri Matisse: Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre gravé. Paris, 1983, vol. 2, p. 100 under no. 504, call it "L'odalisque couchée, harmonie rouge".
Catherine Barnett. "A Very Private View: Inside Walter Annenberg's Personal Paradise." Art & Antiques 6 (March 1989), p. 100, ill. pp. 7 (color detail), 94–95 (color), calls it "Odalisque".
Mark Rosenthal inMasterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Colin B. Bailey, Joseph J. Rishel, and Mark Rosenthal. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1991, pp. 120–21, 207–8, ill. (color and bw), notes that the inclusion of the samovar indicates that this work was painted in 1927; tentatively identifies the model as Henriette, who remained Matisse's principal model until early that year.
Jérôme Coignard. "Le Salon de peinture de Mr. et Mrs. Annenberg." Beaux Arts no. 92 (July–August 1991), p. 65, calls it "L'Odalisque au pantalon gris"; notes that Enid Haupt bought this picture from the artist.
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville. Matisse: Henri Matisse chez Bernheim-Jeune. Paris, 1995, vol. 2, pp. 1272–73, no. 675, ill., as "Odalisque accoudée et nature morte"; note that it was photographed by Bernheim-Jeune in October 1927.
Sabine Rewald in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1997–1998." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 56 (Fall 1998), p. 62, ill. (color), calls it "Odalisque with Gray Culottes"; identifies the model as Henriette Darricarrière.
Pierre Schneider. Matisse. Rev. ed. (English ed., 1984). Paris, 2002, p. 527 [probably this work], calls it "Odalisque au pantalong gris"; lists it among paintings of odalisques influenced by Michelangelo's figure "Night" on the Medici tomb.
Kathleen Brunner inMatisse, His Art and His Textiles: The Fabric of Dreams. Exh. cat., Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis. London, 2004, pp. 184–85, no. 28, ill. p. 118 (color), dates it spring 1927; compares it to another painting of the same title (1926–27; Musée National de l'Orangerie, Paris), noting that both were inspired by Matisse's sculpture "Large Seated Nude" (begun in 1925) and painting "Decorative Figure on an Ornamental Ground" (1926; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris).
Mark Rosenthal inMasterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Susan Alyson Stein and Asher Ethan Miller. 4th rev. ed. [1st ed., 1989]. New York, 2009, pp. 273–75, no. 51, ill. (color).
Adrienne L. Childs inRiffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition. Exh. cat., Phillips Collection, Washington, D. C. New York, 2019, p. 91, fig. 5 (color), calls it "Odalisque with Grey Trousers".
Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice)
1906
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