Henri Matisse, Antoine-Louis Barye, and others
Jaguar dévorant un lièvre
1898-1900
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- Artist: Henri Matisse
- Artist: Antoine-Louis Barye
- Foundry: Valsuani
Jaguar dévorant un lièvre
1898-1900
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 8 1/2 x 23 x 8 in. (21.6 x 58.4 x 20.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Purchase with exchange funds from the Nelson and Juanita Greif Gutman Collection
Object Number
1999.3
In an attempt to learn as much as possible about depicting all aspects of the figure in his art, Matisse turned to sculpture in 1899. He enrolled in a free municipal art class and, as an exercise, began copying a bronze from the Louvre, Antoine-Louis Barye's Jaguar Devouring a Hare. For the next two years Matisse devoted himself to the investigation of Barye's example, as evidenced in his drawings. He worked on his sculpture while blindfolded to gain a tactile understanding of its twisting masses and he even studied a dissected cat, as Barye was known to do. Ultimately, Matisse translated Barye's dynamic realism into a highly personal idiom comprised of additive modeling and subtractive editing with the knife. The abstract marks of this process remain visible on the surface, while the structural principles underlying Barye's jaguar are retained as a unified gesture that concentrates all the power of the animal into a sinuous arabesque. This serpentine form, recurrent throughout Matisse's career, became the point of departure for his celebrated series of backs.
A close comparison of the two jaguars by Matisse and Barye
reveals the innovative character of Matisse’s sculpture. Both
works suggest enormous muscle power in the long stretchedout
body of the beast. However, unlike Barye who describes
every detail of the jaguar’s fur, Matisse leaves the marks of
his own hands and sculptor’s knife on the jaguar’s body as
evidence of his personal interaction with the clay. By
manipulating the material and reworking the surface, Matisse
produced an entirely new sense of energy unrelated to any
particular set of muscles or bones.
Matisse made several drawings to help him analyze the
interior structural principles and gesture that give Barye’s
jaguar its visceral force. The drawings call attention to the
sinuous line that starts at the jaguar’s tail and spirals through
the rib cage and shoulders to animate the beast. This type
of serpentine line recurs in Matisse’s sculptures throughout
his career. ("Matisse," 2007)
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1999; C&M Arts, New York; Private Collection,? ; Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., London; Sotheby's London, December 7, 1966 (#78); Reyntiens; Sotheby's, London, July 7, 1960 (#1); Theodor Ahrenberg, Stockholm; Galerie Samlaren, Agnes Widlund, Stockholm; from the artist
"The Sculpture of Matisse and three paintings with drawings", Tate Gallery, London, January 9-February 22, 1953, no. 1.
"Henri Matisse, Kunsternes Hus", Oslo, February 20-March 7, 1954, no. 1.
"Matisse", Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 16 April-8 July 1954, no. 1.
"Modern Utländsk Konst, Ur Svenska Privatsamlingar", Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Nov. 1954, no. 93.
"Henri Matisse, Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings", The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1954, no. 1.
"Henri Matisse, Apollon", Utställning anordnad i samarbete med Medicinska Föreningen, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, September 4-September 23, 1957, no. 1.
"Henri Matisse, Apollon", Theodor Ahrenberg in Kokoelema, Helsingin Taidehalli, December 10, 1957-January 6 1958, no. 131.
"Henri Matisse, Apollon," Collection Theodor Ahrenberg, Saison Liègeoise 1958, Exposition organisée en collaboration avec l'Association des Etudiants en Medicine de Stockholm, Musée des Beaux Arts de Liège, May 3-July 31, 1958, no. 131.
"Henri Matisse, Das Plastische Werk, Samtliche Plastiken des Meisters sowie Zeichnungen, Graphik und Collagen als Leihgaben der Sammlung Ahrenberg, Stockholm, der Familie kes Künstlers und aus Schweitzer Privatbesitz," Kunsthaus Zürich, July 14-August 12, 1959, no. 2.
"Henri Matisse", Ur Theodor Ahrenbergs Samling, Könsthallen, Götaplatsen (Gothenburg), March 16-April 10, 1960, no. 159.
"Henri Matisse: Sculpture", C&M Arts, NY, September 23-December 12, 1998.
"Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated by The Baltimore Art Museum to Denver Art Museum, March 12- June 25, 2000; Birmingham Museum of Art, July 16-November 10, 2000; and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000-January 28, 2001.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash; BMA, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor", Dallas, January 21-April 29, 2007; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 9-September 16, 2007; The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 28, 200-February 3, 2008, cat. no. 1, p. 266, ill. pp. 101, 102, 105.
"Henri Matisse, Kunsternes Hus", Oslo, February 20-March 7, 1954, no. 1.
"Matisse", Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 16 April-8 July 1954, no. 1.
"Modern Utländsk Konst, Ur Svenska Privatsamlingar", Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Nov. 1954, no. 93.
"Henri Matisse, Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings", The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1954, no. 1.
"Henri Matisse, Apollon", Utställning anordnad i samarbete med Medicinska Föreningen, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, September 4-September 23, 1957, no. 1.
"Henri Matisse, Apollon", Theodor Ahrenberg in Kokoelema, Helsingin Taidehalli, December 10, 1957-January 6 1958, no. 131.
"Henri Matisse, Apollon," Collection Theodor Ahrenberg, Saison Liègeoise 1958, Exposition organisée en collaboration avec l'Association des Etudiants en Medicine de Stockholm, Musée des Beaux Arts de Liège, May 3-July 31, 1958, no. 131.
"Henri Matisse, Das Plastische Werk, Samtliche Plastiken des Meisters sowie Zeichnungen, Graphik und Collagen als Leihgaben der Sammlung Ahrenberg, Stockholm, der Familie kes Künstlers und aus Schweitzer Privatbesitz," Kunsthaus Zürich, July 14-August 12, 1959, no. 2.
"Henri Matisse", Ur Theodor Ahrenbergs Samling, Könsthallen, Götaplatsen (Gothenburg), March 16-April 10, 1960, no. 159.
"Henri Matisse: Sculpture", C&M Arts, NY, September 23-December 12, 1998.
"Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated by The Baltimore Art Museum to Denver Art Museum, March 12- June 25, 2000; Birmingham Museum of Art, July 16-November 10, 2000; and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000-January 28, 2001.
Dorothy Kosinski, Jay McKean Fisher, Steven Nash; BMA, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, "Matisse: Painter as Sculptor", Dallas, January 21-April 29, 2007; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 9-September 16, 2007; The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 28, 200-February 3, 2008, cat. no. 1, p. 266, ill. pp. 101, 102, 105.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951) 52, 303.
Raymond Escholier, "Matisse," (New York: Praeger, 1960) 46.
Albert Elsen, "The Sculpture of Matisse," (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972) 15-21.
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "The Sculpture of Henri Matisse," (London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984) cat. # 2.
Jack Flam, "Matisse: The Man and His Art, 1869-1918," (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1986) 75-76.
Jack Flam,"Henri Matisse: Sculpture," (New York: C&M Arts, Date?) No. 6 (illustrated).
Hilary Spurling, "The Unknown Matisse," (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998) 200, 212-13.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "BMA Today," January - February 2004, p.15, ill.
Kosinski, Dorothy, Jay McKean Fisher, and Steven Nash. Matisse: Painter as Sculptor. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art; Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art: Nasher Sculpture Center; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007, pages 19, fig. 16, 100-102, 105, cat no. 1.
Inscribed: Signed and numbered beneath tiger's tail: "HM 4/10". Underside: "14" in red paint (twice); three stamps (Sweden) "Zoll 1-10+"; three stickers, "Made in France," and glued to base, page cut from catalogue describing sculpture.
Markings: Foundry stamp behind the Jaguar's proper right rear paw: "Cire - C. Valsuani - perdue"
