Dancer Resting

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Dancer Resting

Artist Henri Matisse French, 1869-1954

Date1940

DimensionsPainting: 32 × 25 1/2 in. (81.3 × 64.8 cm)
Frame: 40 1/4 × 34 1/4 × 4 in. (102.2 × 87 × 10.2 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy

Object number

1947.54

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 03

Collections

Paintings

Published ReferencesFrost, R., "Lee Ault Can Pick Them," Art News, vol. XLIII, April 15-30, 1944, p. 16.

Reed, J. K., "Seven American Collectors Show Treasures at Modern Museum," Art Digest, vol. XX, Aug. 1, 1946, p. 31, repr. p. 5.

La Farge, H., "Ruisdael to Pissarro to Noguchi," Art News, XLIX, Mar. 1950, p. 59.

Barr, A. H., Matisse: His Art and His Public, New York, 1951, p. 559.

The Collection of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy, The Toledo Museum of Art, 1964, pp. 22-23, repr. (col.).

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 7, no. 4, Winter 1964, repr. p. 109.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 91 (col.).

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 109, pl. 292.

Monod-Fontaine, Isabelle, Matisse: Oeuvres de Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Paris, 1979, p. 124, repr.

Henri Matisse: les chefs d'oeuvre du Musée Matisse et les Matisses de Matisse, Japan, Art Life, 1987, no. 39, p. 151, repr. (col.).

Monod-Fontaine, Isabelle, Matisse: Oeuvres de Henri Matisse, Paris, 1989, repr. p. 239.

Turley, Robert, Humanities: the Western Creative Heritage, a Student Handbook, Dubuque, 1991, pl. IV.

Elderfield, John, Henri Matisse: A Retrospective, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1992, p. 364, repr. p. 396, pl. 330 (col.).

"Matisse à l'oeuvre," Connaissance des Arts, no. 536, Feb. 1997, p. 24, repr. (col.).

Henri Matisse: Processus/Variation, Tokyo, Musee national d'art occidental, 2004, no. 93, p. 189, repr. (col.) p. 191.

Muller-Tamm, Pia ed., Henri Matisse: Figure Colour Space, Ostfildern-Ruit, Hatje Cantz , 2005, no. 166, repr. p. 250 (col.).

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 325, repr. (col.).

Elderfield, John, In the Studio: Paintings, New York, Gagosian Gallery, 2015, p. 70, repr. p. 71.

Klein, John, Matisse and Decoration, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2018, fig. 4.11 (col.) p. 101.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, Valentine Gallery, Modern Paintings from the Lee Ault Collection, 1944, no. 29, repr.

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Paintings from Private New York Collections, 1946, no. 3.

Portland, Portland Art Museum, 1952.

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, The Collection of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy, 1964.

Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Color and Field 1890-1970, no. 33.

Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1970.

Dayton, Dayton Art Institute, 1970.

Tokyo, Musée Isetan; Yamaguch, Museum of Yamiguchi; Osaka, Daimaru Art Museum; Yokohama, Art Museum of Sogo, Henri Matisse: A Retrospective, 1987-1988.

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Henri Matisse: A Retrospective, Sept. 14, 1992-Jan. 12, 1993.

Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art, Henri Matisse: Processus/Variation, Sept. 10-Dec. 12, 2004, no. 93.

Dusseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen; Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, Fondation Beyeler, Henri Matisse: Figure Colour Space, October 29, 2005 - July 9, 2006.

Toeldo, Toledo Museum of Art, Speaking Visual: Learning the Language of Art, Oct. 31, 2014-Jan. 25, 2015.

New York, Gagosian Gallery, In the Studio, Feb. 17-Apr. 18, 2015. Phildelphia, PA, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Paris, Franch, Musee de l'Orangerie, Matisse in the 1930s, October 13, 2022 - May 29, 2023.

Label TextPainted just before Henri Matisse abandoned painting for designs composed of paper cutouts, Dancer Resting incorporates interests that occupied him throughout his career: the human figure, bright colors, varied lines, and patterns, all given equal attention. The woman, Lydia Delectorskaya (Russian, 1910–1998), Matisse’s favorite model at the time, leans back in her chair, her legs casually splayed. She gazes out matter-of-factly at the viewer, at ease with herself. One of Matisse’s paintings of nudes rests on an easel in the upper right and provides a self-referential wink to the viewer. House plants and the large blocks of color on the floor create patterns that reflect Matisse’s lifelong interest in decorative motifs. Delectorskaya remained with Matisse as a studio manager, model, secretary, and finally, caregiver, until his death in 1954. Enigmatically known only as “Madame Lydia” to studio visitors, she was pivotal in helping to produce his late work when his health was in rapid decline.