art-Matisse.com
Henri Matisse 1869-1954
©Henri Matisse - Spanish Woman: Harmony in Blue 1923
 Spanish Woman: Harmony in Blue |
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City:
The Lehman painting belongs to a small series of works in which Matisse depicts Henriette Darricarrère in a frontal pose, almost as if he were executing a formal portrait. In each case, she appears before a different fabric background and is outfitted in various costumes and accessories with ethnic associations; often, as here, she is dressed as a Spanish woman. A preparatory charcoal drawing by Matisse of the same size as the painting is in the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National de l'Art Moderne, Paris.