Le Repos du modèle

Model in Repose is related to a series of orientalising pictures Henri Matisse executed of Henriette Darricarrère in the early 1920s. Cast in the role of an odalisque, Darricarrère, one of Matisse’s favourite models, languorously reclines on a chaise lounge in this closely cropped composition. Her left arm bent and raised behind her head, she seductively gazes at the viewer, reprising the facial expression and pose of Francisco de Goya’s The Naked Maja (1797-1800; Museo del Prado, Madrid).

Published in 1925, this work revived Matisse’s interest in planographic printing. Rather than transferring a fully realised drawing, however, he worked directly on the lithographic stone. Using a soft and oily crayon to create various kinds of hatchings and crosshatchings, the artist depicts the dramatic play of light and dark across Darricarrère’s nude upper torso. This preoccupation with tonal contrasts on a range of textures and surfaces is a hallmark of Matisse’s so-called Nice Period from 1918 to 1930.

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