Henri Matisse Odalisque au coffret rouge (Odalisque with Red Box), 1952 is an exquisite study of an odalisque. Matisse visited Morocco in the early 1910’s and became fascinated with the exotic odalisques he encountered there. In this aquatint, a sparsely clad woman in brightly colored garb lounges on her couch. She looks relaxed, with all of her limbs soft and spread out. Matisse forms her body with sweeping, reverent brushstrokes, and delicately draws her facial features. Matisse fills the scene with more brilliant color, lining the wall behind the odalisque with bright greens and yellows, and darker blues. The lower register of the aquatint is dimmer, with rich purples and blues dotting the ground in front of her. Aquatint prints create the opportunity for a magnificent range of color, and Matisse has taken advantage of this property of the medium.

Created in 1952 after an original painting completed by Matisse in 1926, this color aquatint on Arches wove paper is hand signed by Henri Matisse (Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1869 – Nice, 1954) in pencil in the lower right margin and numbered from the edition of 200 in pencil in the lower left margin.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Henri Matisse Odalisque with Red Box (Odalisque au coffret rouge), 1952 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Duthuit-Matisse, Marguerite and Claude Duthuit. Henri Matisse: Catalogue Raisonné de l’Œuvre Gravé – Tome II, Paris, 1983. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. III.

2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards Henri Matisse Odalisque with Red Box (Odalisque au coffret rouge), 1952 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.