Seated Nude with Arms Raised (Nue a la cheminee)

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Seated Nude with Arms Raised (Nue a la cheminee)

Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954)

Date1925

Dimensions25 x 18 7/8 in.

MediumLithograph

ClassificationPrints

Object number

1938.36

Not on View

Label TextThe 1920s were quantitatively Henri Matisse's greatest period of graphic production. In 1921, he established permanent quarters in Nice and, working with favored model Henriette Darricarrère, he created for himself a private world of sensuousness and calm. As critic Clement Greenberg remarked, “he relaxed into the arms of tradition,” turning his attention to the work of Renaissance artists. In this lithograph and in several closely related works of the mid-1920s—paintings, prints, drawings, and a sculpture—he reconsidered the nude figures from Michelangelo’s Medici tombs. Here using a wide range of soft, closely graded tones, he stressed the modeled monumentality of the figure while giving a voluptuous aura to his solid and carefully constructed composition.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, European Expressionist and Cubist Works on Paper: 1900-1930, December 2, 2011-March 11, 2012 (University of Toledo Student Exhibition).