The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Two Women

Two Women

c. 1908
(French, 1869–1954)
France, 20th century
bronze
Overall: 45.7 x 25.7 cm (18 x 10 1/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold T. Clark 1957.144
© Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: not on view

Description

Matisse based this sculpture on a photograph of two women embracing, but translated it into a more compact, three-dimensional composition by fusing their torsos and shortening and thickening their legs. Positioning the figures face to face eliminates any frontal view, which encourages examination from various angles. "Fit your parts into each other as a carpenter does a house," Matisse said. "Everything must be constructed, built upon parts that make a unit."
  • 1929
    (Galerie Pierre Matisse, Paris, France, May 1929)
    (Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, NY)
    1957
    Mr. Harold T. Clark [1882-1965] and Mrs. Harold T. Clark [1896-1971], Cleveland,OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1957-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Gabriel P. Weisberg, and H. W. Janson. Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Reproduced: P. 22
    Kelly, Simon. Matisse and the Sea. Saint Louis, Mo.: Saint Louis Art Museum; Munich, Germany: Hirmer, 2024. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 82-83
  • Matisse and the Sea. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (February 17-May 12, 2024).
    Changing Dimensions: Works on Paper by Sculptors. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1995-January 24, 1996).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
  • {{cite web|title=Two Women|url=false|author=Henri Matisse|year=c. 1908|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1957.144