Label TextHenri Matisse was one of the founders of Fauvism, a movement known for its rejection of illusionistic perspective and expressive use of non-naturalistic color. Influenced by African, Oceanic, and other non-Western art objects, he and other modernists of the time simplified features in their portraits, as seen in traditional African masks. The graphic patterns on the wall, chair, and dress show Matisse’s interest in cut-outs or decoupage, a distinctive element of his practice. In this painting, Matisse depicts his neighbor, Elvire Van Hyfte, as a chic modern woman. Van Hyfte was the daughter of a Belgian father and a Congolese mother. After her mother’s death when she was a teenager, Van Hyfte moved to Belgium, where she negotiated the complexities of being a woman of color at a European university and then as a journalist.
Exhibition History"Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet to Matisse to Today", Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, Oct 24, 2018 - Feb 10, 2019
"Le Modele Noir", Musee d"Orsay, March 26 - 21 July, 2019
"Selected Cowles Family Gifts to the Permanent Collection," Des Moines Art Center, July 30 - Sept. 11, 1994
"Highlights from Three Collections: The Bohen, Coffin and Cowles Collections," Des Moines Art Center, July 8 - Sept. 11, 1983
"Art in Western Europe: The Postwar Years 1945 - 1955," Des Moines Art Center, Sept. 19 - Oct. 29, 1978
"Gifts of John and Elizabeth Bates Cowles," Des Moines Art Center, (on view in north Blank Gallery during opening of the new wing), Oct. 4 - Nov. 5, 1968
"Communicating Art from Midwest Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Oct. 13 - Nov. 6, 1955
"The Art of Henri Matisse," The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Feb. 6 - Mar. 1, 1953
Published ReferencesVERVE, Vol. 6, no. 21 and 22, Paris, 1944-1948, ill.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., MATISSE - HIS ART AND HIS PUBLIC, Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., 1951, ref. p.275
"The Art of Henri Matisse," The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, 1953, exh. cat. no.26
"Communicating Art from Midwest Collections," Des Moines Art Center, 1955, exh. cat. no.55, ill.
DMAC Bulletin, Nov. 1959, ill.
NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW SECTION, July 12, 1959, ill.
"Art In Western Europe: The Postwar Years 1945 - 1955," Des Moines Art Center, 1978, exh. cat. no.36, color ill.
DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER, Apr. 17, 1983, color ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.150, color ill. pl.XIX, p.115
DMAC News, July/Aug. 1994, p.2
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.184, color ill. p.185
"Letters from John Cowles to his Family, 1943-1976; 1945", edited by Elizabeth Ballantine, Durango Herald Press, 2003, cover image
"Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today", publ. Musee d'Orsay/Paris, 2018
"Le Modele Noir", publ. Musee d'Orsay/Flammarion, 2019, p. 332, Illus. p. 261, full citation - pg. 357
"Matisse - Invitation to the Voyage," Fondation Beyeler, Basel, 2024, p. 178
Exhibition History"Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet to Matisse to Today", Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, Oct 24, 2018 - Feb 10, 2019
"Le Modele Noir", Musee d"Orsay, March 26 - 21 July, 2019
"Selected Cowles Family Gifts to the Permanent Collection," Des Moines Art Center, July 30 - Sept. 11, 1994
"Highlights from Three Collections: The Bohen, Coffin and Cowles Collections," Des Moines Art Center, July 8 - Sept. 11, 1983
"Art in Western Europe: The Postwar Years 1945 - 1955," Des Moines Art Center, Sept. 19 - Oct. 29, 1978
"Gifts of John and Elizabeth Bates Cowles," Des Moines Art Center, (on view in north Blank Gallery during opening of the new wing), Oct. 4 - Nov. 5, 1968
"Communicating Art from Midwest Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Oct. 13 - Nov. 6, 1955
"The Art of Henri Matisse," The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Feb. 6 - Mar. 1, 1953
Published ReferencesVERVE, Vol. 6, no. 21 and 22, Paris, 1944-1948, ill.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., MATISSE - HIS ART AND HIS PUBLIC, Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., 1951, ref. p.275
"The Art of Henri Matisse," The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, 1953, exh. cat. no.26
"Communicating Art from Midwest Collections," Des Moines Art Center, 1955, exh. cat. no.55, ill.
DMAC Bulletin, Nov. 1959, ill.
NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW SECTION, July 12, 1959, ill.
"Art In Western Europe: The Postwar Years 1945 - 1955," Des Moines Art Center, 1978, exh. cat. no.36, color ill.
DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER, Apr. 17, 1983, color ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.150, color ill. pl.XIX, p.115
DMAC News, July/Aug. 1994, p.2
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.184, color ill. p.185
"Letters from John Cowles to his Family, 1943-1976; 1945", edited by Elizabeth Ballantine, Durango Herald Press, 2003, cover image
"Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today", publ. Musee d'Orsay/Paris, 2018
"Le Modele Noir", publ. Musee d'Orsay/Flammarion, 2019, p. 332, Illus. p. 261, full citation - pg. 357
"Matisse - Invitation to the Voyage," Fondation Beyeler, Basel, 2024, p. 178
DimensionsFrame: 44 3/16 × 31 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (112.2 × 80 × 3.8 cm)
Canvas: 38 × 23 3/4 in. (96.5 × 60.3 cm)
Image (visible): 35 5/8 × 23 1/4 in. (90.4 × 59.1 cm)
Canvas: 38 × 23 3/4 in. (96.5 × 60.3 cm)
Image (visible): 35 5/8 × 23 1/4 in. (90.4 × 59.1 cm)
Accession Number 1959.40
Classificationspainting
CopyrightARS
SignedH. Matisse 46 (l,l oil paint)
ProvenanceArtist, France; (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York); Mr. and Mrs. John & Elizabeth Bates Cowles, Minneapolis, MN [purchased from the previous, 5 April 1948]; Des Moines Art Center [gifted by previous, 1959]
Collections
Images (1)
Audio (2)
Denise Murrell, Associate Curator of 19th and 20th Century art at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtAudio Transcript
60th Anniversary Audio Tour with Jeff Fleming, DirectorHenri Matisse (French, 1869 - 1954)
Dame à la robe blanche (Woman in White), 1946
Run Time: 1:17
Recorded by Denise Murrell, Associate Curator of 19th and 20th Century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art / March, 2020
Here is Denise Murrell, Associate Curator of 19th and 20th Century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has made a recent discovery about the Art Center’s painting by Heri Matisse title Woman in White from 1946.
In 1946, French modernist Henri Matisse, made four paintings posed by Elvire Van Hyfte at his residence, the Villa Le Reve in the South of France. She was a Belgian Congolese journalist. For much of 1946 she as a regular and welcome visitor to the Villa Le Reve. She and Matisse discussed books that they had both recently read. During this time, Matisse placed her at the center of some of the richest and most decorative paintings that he had ever made. These paintings were among the final easel paintings made by Matisse before he turned his attention to the paper cutouts that defined his work until his death eight years later.
