In 1907 Matisse created the sculpture Reclining Nude I (Aurora), a plaster cast of which is visible atop the armoire in The Three O'Clock Sitting (MMA 2008.551). Twenty years later when Matisse returned to the pose, he changed the orientation of the model (in the earlier work, she leans on her right elbow) and greatly simplified the form. In this later version, Matisse used a knife to cut the clay, creating the sharp edges visible on the upraised arm and breasts.
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Inscription: Signed and inscribed (on reverse, bottom, by arm, incised): HM 2/10
Marking: Stamped (on reverse, bottom, by buttocks): CIRE/ VALSUAN/ PERDUE [in rectangle]
[Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, stock no. 2824; acquired from the artist; sold on March 25, 1952 to Marx]; Samuel and Florene Marx, Chicago (1952–his d. 1964); Florene May Marx, later Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn, New York (1964–d. 1995; her bequest to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Florene M. Schoenborn Bequest: 12 Artists of the School of Paris," February 11–May 4, 1997, extended to August 31, 1997, brochure no. 10.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, not in catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Small Bronzes," September 5, 2003–March 14, 2004, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selections from The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, Part 2," September 28, 2004–January 30, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selections from The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, Part 3," February 15–June 26, 2005, no catalogue.
Canberra. National Gallery of Australia. "Matisse & Picasso," December 13, 2019–April 13, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 116, as "Reclining Nude II [Nu Couché]").
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Matisse: His Art and His Public. New York, 1951, pp. 217–18, 529, 533 (p. 94 n. 1), 545 (p. 217 n. 8), ill. p. 457, erroneously called "Reclining Nude, III" in the caption.
Albert E. Elsen. The Sculpture of Henri Matisse. New York, [1972], pp. 155–58, pls. 209–10 (front and back; not this edition).
Carol Vogel. "32 Works of Art by Masters Left to Met and the Modern." New York Times (November 25, 1996), p. C12.
Claude Duthuit with Wanda de Guébriant. Henri Matisse: Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre sculpté. Paris, 1997, p. 196, no. 69, Épreuve no. 2, ill. pp. 197, 199 (front and back).
Carol Vogel. "Met Gets Gift of 100 Works Collected by Son of Matisse." New York Times (February 27, 2003), p. B9.
Jane Kinsman in Jane Kinsman with Simeran Maxwell. Matisse Picasso. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Australia. Canberra, 2019, pp. 117, 182, ill. p. 116 (color).
Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice)
1906
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