Lot 260 D

“The drawings of Matisse, his works - they speak for themselves. They are not a means of recuperation or a substitute occupation for the hand when fatigue or other circumstances prevent it from painting. Nor does his drawing stand in relation to his painting in a subordinate relationship in the sense of the 'Study for …'. […] The connection between drawing and painting is more complex in the case of Matisse. Initially the graphic study was assigned an aesthetic significance that was sufficient unto itself - usually even in cases where the drawing prepared the way for a painting that is also known and we are thus able to judge the possible compositional contribution of the painting relative to the drawing. Matisse was already aware of this very early on, because he was already presenting drawings at his very first exhibitions. And his first great admirers - from Gertrude Stein to Jacques Doucet, from Marcel Sembat to Gustave Fayet - knew this, as they bought them without hesitation.” (Dominique Fourcade, in: Henri Matisse: Zeichnungen und Skulpturen, exhib. cat. Saarland-Museum Saarbrücken 1991, p. 25).