Bathers with a Turtle
- Artist
- Henri Matisse, French, 1869–1954
- Date
- 1907–08
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Paris, Île-de-France region, Western Europe, France, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 244
- Dimensions
- 71 1/2 x 87 in. (181.6 x 221 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer Jr.
- Rights
- © 2023 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Object Number
- 24:1964
NOTES
A trio of naked, melancholic women congregate around a turtle against stylized bands of land, sea, and sky. Henri Matisse outlined his forms in purposefully crude, expressive contours, and made several compositional changes: the earlier outline of the standing figure is clearly visible at center left. Matisse's nude forms are influenced by Paul Cezanne's paintings of bathers. The artist had seen similar paintings at a 1907 retrospective exhibition in Paris.
Bathers with a Turtle is far more emotionally fraught and expressionistic than most of Matisse's work: the central woman with the mask-like face, for example, anxiously chews her fingers. The painting was acquired by the German collector Karl Ernst Osthaus in 1908, and was subsequently on public view for three decades in Germany where it undoubtedly influenced the course of German expressionist painting.
Bathers with a Turtle is far more emotionally fraught and expressionistic than most of Matisse's work: the central woman with the mask-like face, for example, anxiously chews her fingers. The painting was acquired by the German collector Karl Ernst Osthaus in 1908, and was subsequently on public view for three decades in Germany where it undoubtedly influenced the course of German expressionist painting.
Provenance
1908 - 1921
Folkwang Museum, Hagen, Germany, purchased from the artist by Karl Ernst Osthaus for the Folkwang Museum, Hagen [1]
1922 - 1937
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany [2]
1937/08/24 - 1939
German National Socialist (Nazi) government, confiscated as "degenerate" from the Folkwang Museum, Essen, August 24, 1937, and held at Schloss Niederschönhausen [3]
1939/06/30 - 1964
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer (d.1968), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at the Galerie Fischer auction "Gemälde und Plastiken Moderner Kunst aus Deutschen Museen," held in the Grand Hôtel National, Lucerne, Switzerland, June 30, 1939, lot no. 93 [4]
1964 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer [5]
Notes:
[1] This painting was purchased by Karl Ernst Osthaus for the Folkwang Museum in Spring, 1908, according to letters between Pierre Matisse and Osthaus. These letters were formerly in the Folkwang Museum, Essen and are now in private hands [Stein, Laurie. "The History and Reception of Matisse's Bathers with Turtle in Germany, 1908-1939." "Henri Matisse Bathers with a Turtle." St. Louis: The Saint Louis Art Museum, 1998].
[2] After Osthaus's death in 1921, the Folkwang Museum was moved from Hagen to its current location in Essen.
[3] This is documented in the exhibition catalog "Degenerate Art" [Baron, Stephanie, ed. "'Degenerate Art': The Fate of the Avant-garde in Nazi Germany." Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991].
[4] Pierre Matisse, the artist's son, was also a dealer who acted as an agent for the Pulitzers, purchasing the work for them at the Lucerne auction (see note [3]). An annotated copy of the catalogue includes "Pulitzer" after the entry for this painting [copy, SLAM document files]. Also, per information from Galerie Fischer, Lucerne [Stein, 1998].
[5] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 9, 1964.
Folkwang Museum, Hagen, Germany, purchased from the artist by Karl Ernst Osthaus for the Folkwang Museum, Hagen [1]
1922 - 1937
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany [2]
1937/08/24 - 1939
German National Socialist (Nazi) government, confiscated as "degenerate" from the Folkwang Museum, Essen, August 24, 1937, and held at Schloss Niederschönhausen [3]
1939/06/30 - 1964
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer (d.1968), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at the Galerie Fischer auction "Gemälde und Plastiken Moderner Kunst aus Deutschen Museen," held in the Grand Hôtel National, Lucerne, Switzerland, June 30, 1939, lot no. 93 [4]
1964 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer [5]
Notes:
[1] This painting was purchased by Karl Ernst Osthaus for the Folkwang Museum in Spring, 1908, according to letters between Pierre Matisse and Osthaus. These letters were formerly in the Folkwang Museum, Essen and are now in private hands [Stein, Laurie. "The History and Reception of Matisse's Bathers with Turtle in Germany, 1908-1939." "Henri Matisse Bathers with a Turtle." St. Louis: The Saint Louis Art Museum, 1998].
[2] After Osthaus's death in 1921, the Folkwang Museum was moved from Hagen to its current location in Essen.
[3] This is documented in the exhibition catalog "Degenerate Art" [Baron, Stephanie, ed. "'Degenerate Art': The Fate of the Avant-garde in Nazi Germany." Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991].
[4] Pierre Matisse, the artist's son, was also a dealer who acted as an agent for the Pulitzers, purchasing the work for them at the Lucerne auction (see note [3]). An annotated copy of the catalogue includes "Pulitzer" after the entry for this painting [copy, SLAM document files]. Also, per information from Galerie Fischer, Lucerne [Stein, 1998].
[5] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 9, 1964.