Henri Matisse
The Convalescent Woman (The Sick Woman)
1898
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 16 5/16 × 15 1/8 in. (41.4 × 38.4 cm.)
Framed: 25 5/8 × 22 5/8 × 4 3/8 in. (65.1 × 57.5 × 11.1 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.225
In this early interior scene, Matisse experiments with thick strokes of paint and abstracted forms. This visual formality belies an intimate scene: his wife Amélie, recovering in bed after the birth of their son Jean. The table and chair distance her from the viewer and heighten her isolation. At the time Cone purchased it, the composition was more than 20 years old. That it featured Amélie, who Cone knew personally, made it even more special.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, 1923 or 1925; Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1914; Leo Stein, Paris, by February 1910; Michael and Sarah Stein, Paris, December 1908; Galerie Druet, Paris
Adelyn D. Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture", April 1, 1930-December 1, 1930, no. 38 (exhibited as "La Malade").
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 29 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland", November 13, 1951-December 30, 1951, no. 172. (Exhibited as "The Invalid")
Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany, "Matisse und seine Freunde - Les Fauves", May 25, 1966-July 10, 1966, no. 61 (exhibited as "Die Kranke").
Margaret Potter, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family", December 19, 1970-March, 1, 1971; circulated to the Baltimore Museum of Art, April 4, 1971-June 13, 1971; The San Francisco Museum of Art, September 9, 1971-October 31, 1971 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
Jane Harrison Cone, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to Wildenstein and Company, New York, March 29, 1974-May 4, 1974, no. 13 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
Richard J. Wattenmaker, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, "The Fauves", April 11, 1975-May 11, 1975, no. 1 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
John Elderfield, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "The 'Wild Beasts:' Fauvism and Its Affinities", March 26, 1976-June 1, 1976; circulated to The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 29, 1976-August 15, 1976; The Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, September 11, 1976-October 31, 1976.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," circulated to The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, August 24, 1979 - October 14, 1979.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
Brain Trust Inc., Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", October 3, 1996-December 28, 1996, no. 3; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997 (exhibited as "The Sick Woman").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Denver Art Museum, March 11, 2000-June 25, 2000; Birmingham Museum of Art, July 23, 2000-September 17, 2000; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000 - January 28, 2001.
Pia Müller-Tamm, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, "Henri Matisse: Figure Color Space", October 29, 2005-February 19, 2006, no. 7; circulated to Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, March 19, 2006-July 9, 2006 (exhibited as "La malade/The Sick Woman").
Terence Maloon, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, "Paths to Abstraction 1867-1917", June 25, 2010-September 19, 2010.
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore", circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May-25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012-10 February 2013.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 29 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland", November 13, 1951-December 30, 1951, no. 172. (Exhibited as "The Invalid")
Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany, "Matisse und seine Freunde - Les Fauves", May 25, 1966-July 10, 1966, no. 61 (exhibited as "Die Kranke").
Margaret Potter, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family", December 19, 1970-March, 1, 1971; circulated to the Baltimore Museum of Art, April 4, 1971-June 13, 1971; The San Francisco Museum of Art, September 9, 1971-October 31, 1971 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
Jane Harrison Cone, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to Wildenstein and Company, New York, March 29, 1974-May 4, 1974, no. 13 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
Richard J. Wattenmaker, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, "The Fauves", April 11, 1975-May 11, 1975, no. 1 (exhibited as "The Invalid").
John Elderfield, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, "The 'Wild Beasts:' Fauvism and Its Affinities", March 26, 1976-June 1, 1976; circulated to The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 29, 1976-August 15, 1976; The Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, September 11, 1976-October 31, 1976.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," circulated to The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, August 24, 1979 - October 14, 1979.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
Brain Trust Inc., Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", October 3, 1996-December 28, 1996, no. 3; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997 (exhibited as "The Sick Woman").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Denver Art Museum, March 11, 2000-June 25, 2000; Birmingham Museum of Art, July 23, 2000-September 17, 2000; The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, October 10, 2000 - January 28, 2001.
Pia Müller-Tamm, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, "Henri Matisse: Figure Color Space", October 29, 2005-February 19, 2006, no. 7; circulated to Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, March 19, 2006-July 9, 2006 (exhibited as "La malade/The Sick Woman").
Terence Maloon, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, "Paths to Abstraction 1867-1917", June 25, 2010-September 19, 2010.
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore", circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May-25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012-10 February 2013.
"Baltimore Women Own Large Collection of Matisse Works," "The Baltimore Sun," December 14, 1924, p. M20 (Published as "La Malade").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1930, p.6, no. 38 (Published as "La Malade").
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, p. 24, pl. 30, ill. (Published as "La Malade").
George Boas, Adelyn D. Breeskin and J.G. D'Arcy Paul, "Selections from the Cone Collection," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," October 1949, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 14 (Published as "The Invalid").
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, pp. 47, 48, 49, 301, 557, 575, 580, ill. p. 301 (Published as "The Invalid").
Gertrude Rosenthal, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1951, pp. 13, 47, no. 172, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
Gaston Diehl, "Henri Matisse," Paris: Éditions Pierre Tisné, 1954, pp. 15, 132, 152, 160, pl. 10, ill. (Published as "La Malade, Ajaccio").
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Cone Collection: A Handbook with a Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, p. 31, no. 40 (Published as "The Invalid").
Jacques Lassaigne, "Matisse," Geneva: Skira, 1959, pp. 30-31, 136, p. 31. (Published as "The Invalid").
Barbara Pollack, "The Collectors: Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone," Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1962, pp. 129, 252. (Published as "The Invalid")
David Sylvester, ed., "The Book of Art: A Pictorial Encyclopedia of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture. Modern Art: From Fauvism to Abstract Expressionism, vol. 8," New York: Grolier, 1965, pp. 5, 127, p. 127, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
"Matisse und seine Freunde - Les Fauves," Hamburg, Germany: Kunstverein, 1966, pl. 49, no. 61, ill. (Published as "Die Kranke").
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, pp. 21, 66, no. 37, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
Frederick Brill, "Matisse," New York: Paul Hamlyn, 1967, pp. 5, 10, 33, pl. 3, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
Jean Leymarie, "Il Fauvismo: La Fase Preparatoria," "L'Arte Moderna," 1967, vol. 3, no. 24, p. 205, ill. (Published as "La malata").
Renata Negri, "Matisse E I Fauves," Milan: Fratelli Fabri, 1969, p. 12, pl. 2, ill. (Published as "La malata").
The Museum of Modern Art, "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1970, p. 159 (Published as "The Invalid").
Douglas Cooper, Irene Gordon, Lucile M. Golson, Ellen B. Hirschland, Leon Katz and William Voss Elder, III, "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1971, p. 13 (Published as "The Invalid").
Jack D. Flam, "Matisse on Art," London: Phaidon Press Ltd., 1973, p. 10, pl. 7, ill. (Published as "La Malade").
John Jacobus, "Henri Matisse," New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1973, pp. 92-93, pl. 4, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art: A Benefit Exhibition at Wildenstein," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1974, no. 13 (Published as "The Invalid").
Richard J. Wattenmaker, "The Fauves," Toronto: The Art Gallery of Ontario, 1975, pp. 4, 16, no. 1, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
John Elderfield, "The 'Wild Beasts:' Fauvism and Its Affinities," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1976, pp. 10, 19, ill. p. 19 (Published as "The Invalid").
Mannering, Douglas. The Art of Matisse. London: Optimum Books, 1982, page 9 (published as “The Invalid”).
Israel Rosen, "The Cone Sisters: Myths, Realities and Some Conjectures," "Helicon Nine, the Journal of Women's Arts and Letters," Winter 1983, no. 9, p. 84 (Published as "The Invalid").
Pierre Schneider, "Matisse," New York: Rizzoli, 1984, pp. 114, 749. (Published as "The Invalid").
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 173, 175.
Jack Flam, "Matisse The Man and His Art 1869-1918," Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986, pp. 61, 65, 518, fig. 45, ill. (Published as "The Invalid").
Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, "Matisse: Le Rythme et la Ligne," Paris: Guillaud Editions, 1987, pp. 17, 645, no. 9, ill. (Published as "La malade").
Girard, Xavier. Les chefs-d'œuvre du Musée Matisse, Nice, Cimiez. [Dijon]: Ville de Dijon; [Paris]: Réunion des musées nationaux; [Nice-Cimiez]: Musée Matisse, [1991], page 28.
Jack Flam, ed., "Matisse: A Retrospective," New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1988, pp. 34, 391, pl. 2, ill. (Published as "The Sick Woman").
Nobuyuki Senzoku and Akira Tomita, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Tokyo: Brain Trust Inc., 1996, pp. 48, 158, no. 3, ill. (Published as "The Sick Woman").
Brenda Wineapple, "Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein," New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996, pp. 232, 504 (Published as "The Invalid").
Spurling, Hilary. "The Unknown Matisse: The Life of Henri Matisse: The Early Years, 1869-1908." New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998, ill (fig. 7).
Hollis Taggart Galleries and the Woodmere Art Museum, "The Orchestration of Color: The Paintings of Arthur B. Carles," New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2000, p. 34, fig. 5, ill. (Published as "The Sick Woman").
Jack Flam, "Matisse in the Cone Collection: The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pp. 24-26, 31, pl. 4, ill.
Pia Müller-Tamm, ed., "Henri Matisse: Figure, Color, Space," Düsseldorf, Germany: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hatje Cantz, 2005, p.366, no. 7, ill. (Published as "La malade/The Sick Woman").
Ellen B. Hirschland and Nancy Hirschland Ramage, "The Cone Sisters of Baltimore: Collecting at Full Tilt," Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2008, pp. 93-95, 252, 277, fig. 5.3, ill.
Terence Maloon, ed., "Paths to Abstraction 1867- 1917" Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2010, pp. 141, 285, ill. p. 141.
Janet Bishop, Cécile Debray, and Rebecca Rabinow, eds., "The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde," San Francisco: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2011, pp. 366, 408, 486, no. 97, pl. 351, ill.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 21, 36, 76, pl.12, ill.
Dita Armory, "Madame Cézanne," New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 151, color ill.
Cauman, John. Matisse in 50 Works. London: Pavilion Books, 2019.
Cozzi, Leslie and Katherine Rothkopf (eds). "A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2021. ill.
Inscribed: Recto: Signed, upper left in dark paint (possibly green), "Henri-Matisse" Verso: Upper right, "1899" in artist's hand.
