Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Casbah: Le marabout

Details

Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Casbah: Le marabout
signed 'H Matisse' (lower left)
pen and India ink on paper
Image size: 6¾ x 7 in. (17.2 x 17.8 cm.)
Sheet size: 6¾ x 10 1/8 in. (17.2 x 25.8 cm.)
Drawn in Tangier, 1912-1913

Provenance

Estate of the artist.
Mairie Matisse, Pontoise (by descent from the above). Dr. Tomasini, France (acquired from the above).
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Literature

P. Schneider, Matisse, London, 1984, p. 466 (illustrated; titled View of the Kasbah; dated 1911-1913).

Exhibited

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; New York, The Museum of Modern Art; Moscow, State Puskin Museum of Fine Arts, and Leningrad, The State Hermitage Museum, Matisse in Morocco, The Paintings and Drawings, 1912-1913, March 1990-February 1991, pp. 122-123 and 168, no. 38 (illustrated, pp. 122 and 168).

Lot Essay

Wanda de Guébriant has confirmed the authenticity of this drawing.

Drawn during Matisse's first trip to Morocco, the present sketch shows a marabout, a domed tomb of a Muslim saint, located on the Rue Ben Abbou in the Casbah of Tangier. Jack Cowart notes that it "is an important drawing" and that it "announces a drawing and painting style (one of analysis, structure and economy) central to Matisse's work in 1914-1915." (exh. cat., op. cit., pp. 123-124).

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