Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

The present drawing sees the marriage of two of Matisse's beloved subjects--women and flowers. There has often been a close connection between the artist's treatment of the female form and flowers. As Jack Flam has noted: "Matisse not only draws parallels between women and plants, but also exchanges some of their characteristics, giving plant forms a vivid sense of animation and at times virtually transforming women into plant forms" ("Matisse's Dessins Thèmes et variations, A Book and A Method," Henri Matisse Zeichnungen und gouaches découpées, exh. cat, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1993, p. 130). In the present work, Matisse places the sitter and flowers side-by-side, and uses the latter not as an artificial, decorative prop, but as a parallel image of a natural, feminine beauty, implying both subjects share an essential life-force.