Espagnole: Harmonie en bleu (Spanish Woman: Harmony in Blue)

Henri Matisse

1923 · Oil on canvas · Robert Lehman Collection

The Lehman painting belongs to a small series of works in which Matisse depicts Henriette Darricarrère in a frontal pose, almost as if he were executing a formal portrait. In each case, she appears before a different fabric background and is outfitted in various costumes and accessories with ethnic associations; often, as here, she is dressed as a Spanish woman. A preparatory charcoal drawing by Matisse of the same size as the painting is in the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National de l'Art Moderne, Paris.

Artist

Henri Matisse

Date

1923

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975