Etude d'Apres Matisse
Artist
Russell, Morgan
(American, 1896 - 1953)
Date1909-1911
OriginUnited States of America
MediumOil on board
Dimensions13 1/2 × 17 1/4 in. (34.3 × 43.8 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Object number2017.33
Label TextMorgan Russell (American, 1886–1953)
Étude d'Après Matisse
Oil on board, 1909–1911
Gift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Russell, a student of Ashcan realist painter Robert Henri at the New York School of Art, moved to Paris in 1909. There, he attended the intellectual circles of influential collector and writer Gertrude Stein and studied with the Fauve master Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Matisse had just completed his abstract still life Fruit and Bronze (1910), which became the source for this painting. The bronze is Matisse’ sculpture Deux Négresses that was based on a staged ethnographic photograph of two embracing North-African girls from the nomadic Tuareg tribe published in January 1907. In his exercise, Russell closely studied the master’s composition, structure, and form. While adhering to Matisse’s composition, Russell intensified the colors and emphasized certain areas of the arrangement.
Status
On view
