Odalisque, Nice 1931. 1931.
Pen and India ink drawing.
Monogrammed lower right. On Arches wove paper (with the watermark "MBM"). 28 x 38.1 cm (11 x 15 in), size of sheet.
Until January 26, 2025, the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen/Basel presents the first Henri Matisse retrospective in Switzerland and in the German-speaking area in almost 20 years, which also includes his sensual paintings from the Nice period and the 1930s. [CH].

• The nude is one of the most significant subjects in Henri Matisse's work.
• His delicate and filigree drawings demonstrate the incredible power of the line: with just a few contouring strokes, Matisse creates a striking physicality and emotional atmosphere.
• Comparable drawings from the late 1920s and 1930s can be found in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others.

Accompanied by a photo-certificate issued by Wanda de Guébriant, Paris, dated March 8, 1988. The work is registered in the Archives Matisse under the number U 134.

PROVENANCE: Private collection, Paris.
Private collection, Milan.
Private collection, Germany.
Private collection, Hesse (acquired from the above in 2014).

LITERATURE: Guy Martinot, Yves Savignat, Denis Antoine, Pontoise, December 15, 2001, lot 220 A.