Apollo

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Apollo

Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954)

Date1953

Dimensions131 1/2 x 167 1/2 in. (334 x 425.4 cm)

MediumCeramic tile in plaster with ground marble

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1983.40

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Tillotson-Fallis Ct

Label TextApollo refers to the Greek god who is often associated with the sun, the arts, healing, and prophecy. He is depicted here by a blissful face in the center, crowned by the radiant sun. The god presides over a joyful world of intense color and lively plant forms. The embracing blue columns, as well as the overall symmetry, contribute to the mural’s sense of harmony and order. Matisse closely supervised the transposing of his cut-paper design to ceramic tiles for this mural. He divided the composition into sections to help unify it and to form manageable units of heavy ceramic and masonry materials. The ceramicist J. L. Artigas (Spanish, 1892–1980) made the colored tiles using glaze equivalents for Matisse’s opaque watercolor pigments. Matisse himself painted the face and his signature on glazed white tiles before they were fired in a kiln. Each panel is made of steel-framed concrete covered with plaster into which the tiles were set.Published ReferencesMcMaster, Julie A., The Enduring Legacy: A Pictorial History of the Toledo Museum of Art, Superior Printing, Warren, OH, 2001, p. 42.

Watkins, Nicholas, "Aimé Maeght and his artists," Beyond the mirror: Aimé Maeght and his artists, Bonnard, Matisse, Miró, Calder, Giaconnetti, Braque. London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2008, p. 16, fig. 4, (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 55, repr. (col.)

Toledo Museum of Art, Inspired Giving: The Apollo Society 25th Anniversary Exhibition, October 15, 2010-February 13, 2011, repr. (col.) p. 3, 5. [not in exhibition]

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Inspired Giving: The Apollo Society 25th Anniversary Exhibition, October 15, 2010-February 13, 2011, repr. (col.) p. 3, 5. [not in exhibition]