The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 15, 2025

A colorful painting of a person sitting at a table with potted plants, a pitcher, and various fruits. The person sits in a room with dark walls featuring a tapestry behind the person, paintings at our left of the tapestry, and a covered window at our right of the tapestry. On the right side of the painting, there is a large orange vase with potted plants behind it.

Interior with an Etruscan Vase (Intérieur au vase étrusque)

1940

Henri Matisse

(French, 1869–1954)
France, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 102.2 x 129.5 x 12.1 cm (40 1/4 x 51 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 73.7 x 108 cm (29 x 42 1/2 in.)
Gift of the Hanna Fund 1952.153
© Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Did You Know?

When Matisse's Blue Nude was shown in the 1913 Armory show, the violent, unnaturalistic colors and distorted forms so enraged students and faculty from the Art Institute of Chicago that they burned a copy in effigy.

Description

In this interior, a woman is seated at a table with an open book and scattered fruits. The artist painted green potted philodendrons, a red patterned curtain, and an orange antique vase to create an exuberantly colorful composition. Henri Matisse painted this interior in his studio-residence at the Hôtel Régina in Nice on the coast of southeastern France about six months after the outbreak of WWII. As he explained in a letter to a friend, making art provided the equilibrium he needed to withstand the tragedy unfolding in the world beyond his studio.
  • The artist
    1940
    Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959), Bordeaux, France
    Confiscated by Nazi ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg), sent to Paris
    1941
    Hermann Goering (1893-1946)
    Traded to Gustav Rochlitz (1889-1972)
    1946
    Recovered by Allied Forces, Munich Central Collection Point, Germany
    1946
    [Restituted to Paul Rosenberg Gallery, New York, NY]
    about 1947
    Leigh Block, Chicago, IL
    [Paul Rosenberg Gallery, New York]
    around 1952
    [Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York]
  • Ballou, Mary G. ""Interior with Etruscan Vase" by Henri Matisse." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 39, no. 10 (December 1952): 239-241. Mentioned: P. 239-240; Reproduced: P. 241 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 518 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 199 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 199 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned: p. 1 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 248 archive.org
    Sievers, Ann H., Linda D. Muehlig, and Nancy Rich. Master Drawings from the Smith College Museum of Art. New York, New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2000. Reproduced: p. 246, fig. 2
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: p. 60, no. 63; Mentioned: p. 118
    Tanaka, Masayuki, and Chika Amano. Matisu ten. Tōkyō, Japan: Yomiuri Shinbun Tōkyō Honsha Bunka, 2004. Reproduced: p. 192. fig. 6
    Müller-Tamm, Pia, ed. Henri Matisse: Figure, Color, Space. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2005. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 248, no. 164; mentioned: p. 370
    Ciuha, Delia. Eros in der Kunst der Moderne: Ausstellung "Eros in der Kunst der Moderne", Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, 8. Oktober 2006-18. Februar 2007 ; BA-CA Kunstforum, Wien, 1. März - 22. Juli 2007. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2006. Reproduced: p. 157
    Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. London, United Kingdom: Scala Books, 2012. Reproduced: p. 318-319
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 301
    Essers, Volkmar. Henri Matisse, 1869-1954: Master of Colour. Köln: Benedikt Taschen, 2016. Reproduced: p. 74-75
    McBreen, Ellen. "The Studio as Theater." In Matisse in the Studio. Ellen McBreen, and Helen Burnham, 113-139. Boston, Massachusetts: MFA publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2017. Reproduced: p. 139, no. 124
    Dorfman, John. "Matisse Madness." Art & Antiques, (Apr. 2017): 48-54. Reproduced: p. 48
    Klein, John. Matisse and Decoration. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 94, fig 4.1
  • Matisse - Invitation to Voyage. Fondation Beyeler, CH-4125 Riehen/Basel, Switzerland (organizer) (September 22, 2024-January 26, 2025) https://www.fondationbeyeler.ch/ausstellungen/henri-matisse.
    Matisse in the 1930s. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (October 13, 2022-January 29, 2023); Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (February 27-May 29, 2023); Musée Matisse, Nice, France (June 23-September 24, 2023).
    Matisse in the Studio. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (organizer) (April 9-July 9, 2017).
    Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 6, 2015-January 5, 2016).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
    Henri Matisse: Interiors with Women. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany (October 29, 2005-February 26, 2006); Fondation Beyeler, CH-4125 Riehen/Basel, Switzerland (organizer) (March 19-July 23, 2006).
    Masterworks from The Phillips Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-May 29, 2005).
    Henri Matisse: Process and Variation. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (September 10-December 12, 2004).
    La révélation m'est venue de l'Orient. Palazzo dei Conservatori (Musei Capitolini, Rome) (September 19, 1997-January 20, 1998).
    Henri Matisse: La révélation me'est venue de l'Orient. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy (September 19, 1997-January 20, 1998).
    Matisse Retrospective. Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (organizer) (November 3, 1984-January 6, 1985); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humbelbaek, Denmark (January 19-April 14, 1985).
    Henri Matisse Retrospective. Kunsthaus Zürich, CH-8024 Zürich, Switzerland (organizer) (October 14, 1982-January 16, 1983).
    Henri Matisse. French Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy (organizer) (November 24, 1978-January 28, 1979).
    Seventy-Five Masterworks. Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (organizer) (December 12, 1967-January 21, 1968).
    Fifty Years of Modern Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 15-July 31, 1966).
    Seven Decades of Modern Art. Rosenberg & Co., New York, NY (organizer) (April 26-May 21, 1966).
    Paths of Abstract Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 5-November 13, 1960).
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
    Rétrospective Henri Matisse. Museé National d'art Moderne, Paris, France (organizer) (June 1-November 18, 1956).
  • {{cite web|title=Interior with an Etruscan Vase (Intérieur au vase étrusque)|url=false|author=Henri Matisse|year=1940|access-date=15 November 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.153