Auguste Clot, Paris (acquired from the artist)
André Clot, Paris (by descent from the above)
Kyle Morrow, Houston (acquired from the above in the 1930s or 1940s)
Josephine Morrow West (by descent from the above)
By descent from the above in 1985

This work is in very good condition. Executed on cream wove paper. Sheet is t-hinged to a mat at upper corners on verso. Areas of discoloration on recto at extreme upper corners due to tape remnants on verso leaching through the sheet. There is a very faint mat stain around the perimeter. One small scuff just below the figure's right shoulder, otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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The period of 1905-06 saw the first known unshaded line drawings in Matisse’s oeuvre, of which the present work is a prime example. Discussing Matisse’s views on the importance of drawing, Ernst-Gerhard Güse writes: “Matisse places drawing almost on a par with painting as a form of artistic activity. ‘For me,’ he declared, ‘drawing is a painting made with reduced means.’ Instead of regarding them as mere provisional sketches, he saw his drawings as a means of stating the same ‘truth’ as that which he sought to formulate in his paintings" (Ernst-Gerhard Güse, ed., Henri Matisse, Drawings and Sculpture, Munich, 1991, p. 9). Matisse himself wrote “My line drawing is the purest and most direct translation of my emotion. The simplification of the medium allows that… Once my emotive line has modeled the light of my white paper without destroying its precious whiteness, I can neither add nor take anything away. The page is written” (quoted in ibid., p. 21).

The present drawing is also the source image for the lithograph Figure de dos au collier noir, printed by Auguste Clot in a numbered edition of 25. “Matisse’s first woodcuts and lithographs were exhibited in March 1906 in his second one-man show, held at the Galerie Druet. The boldness and refinement displayed in these works go far beyond what he had so far attempted in printmaking, and in the case of most of the lithographs he begins to incorporate the flowing, uninterrupted line that characterizes much of his subsequent drawing... These earliest lithographs derive from drawings on transfer paper, executed from the same model and, most likely, at the same time as the drawings for the woodcuts. Using a crayon instead of a brush, Matisse smoothly follows the contours of his model, exaggerating only slightly the angles and volumes. These transfer lithographs were printed upon the presses of Auguste Clot on narrow rectangular sheets of creamy Japan paper… The Japanese print, so important stylistically in the late nineteenth century, continued to have its impact upon younger artists who were influenced by its more fundamental features, such as form and material. The narrow sheet confined linear forms in a way that emphasized their often foreshortened or cropped contours” (John Elderfield, Matisse in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1978, pp. 48-49).

Auguste Clot, Matiꦡsse’s printer, acquired this work from the artist. He left the drawing to his son from whom it was acquired by the family of the present owner.