Henri Matisse
(French, 1869–1954)
The Swimmer in the Tank, Plate XII from the portfolio Jazz
Object Details
Artist
Henri Matisse
Date
1947
Medium
Pochoir on Arches paper
Dimensions
Image: 16 × 24 3/4 inches (40.6 × 62.9 cm)
Sheet: 16 9/16 × 25 5/8 inches (42 × 65.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Bruce Allyn Eissner, Class of 1965, and Judith Pick Eissner
Object
Number
80.063.012
Matisse’s artistic career spanned more than six decades. He explored a diversity of styles and med(…)
Matisse’s artistic career spanned more than six decades. He explored a diversity of styles and media, creating a unique pictorial language that consistently expressed his desire to “produce art of balance, purity, and serenity.” These pochoirs (a stencil technique) are from the Johnson’s complete Jazz portfolio. The book, comprised of twenty pochoirs, was published in 1947 when Matisse was largely confined to bed with intestinal cancer. The cutouts were made with the help of assistants who drew colorful shapes on white sheets of paper that Matisse then cut up and arranged into improvisational compositions. (“Highlights from the Collection: 45 Years at the Johnson,” curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 27–July 22, 2018)
