Henri Matisse
Yellow Pottery from Provence
1904
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 21 7/8 × 18 3/8 × 5/8 in. (55.6 × 46.7 × 1.6 cm.)
Framed: 27 3/4 × 24 1/8 × 2 7/8 in. (70.5 × 61.3 × 7.3 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.227
Etta Cone purchased this still life, her first oil painting by Matisse and the only example from his Fauve period, in 1906. With its broad expanses of vibrant color and areas of bare canvas, Yellow Pottery from Provence was an extremely daring choice for Etta, who by that time had collected only a few paintings—a group of Japanese prints and some works on paper. The lack of finish in this painting gives it an open and airy quality that emphasizes the bounty of the vegetables shown on the dish.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, 1906; possibly Oskar and Greta Moll, Berlin, 1906; Leo and Gertrude Stein, Paris, 1906; Galerie Druet, Paris, 1906
Adelyn D. Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture", April 1, 1930-December 1, 1930, no. 25 or 42 (exhibited as "Still Life").
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 30.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, "Pictures for a Picture of Gertrude Stein as a Collector and Writer on Art and Artists", February 11, 1951-March 11, 1951; circulated to The Baltimore Museum of Art, March 21, 1951-April 21, 1951.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23, 1953-November 22, 1953.
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.
The University Art Museum, Austin, TX, "Fauve Color", January 23, 1972-February 20, 1972, no. 15.
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. 15.
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.
Judi Freeman, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, "Fauves", December 8, 1995-February 18, 1996, no. 80; circulated to The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, February 29, 1996-May 13, 1996.
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. 5; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997.
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.
Joséphine Matamoros and Dominique Szymusiak, Musée Départemental d'Art Moderne, Céret, France, "Matisse-Derain Collioure 1905, un Été Fauve", June 18, 2005-October 2, 2005, no. 131; circulated to Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, October 22, 2005-January 22, 2006 (exhibited as "Poterie Jaune de Provence").
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.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, "Matisse/Diebenkorn", The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 23, 2016-January 29, 2017. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, March 11, 2017-May 29, 2017.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Matisse, Derain, and the Vertigo of Color", October 16, 2023-January 21, 2024. Circulated to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston February 25, 2024-May 27, 2024.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7, 1949-December 31, 1949, no. 30.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, "Pictures for a Picture of Gertrude Stein as a Collector and Writer on Art and Artists", February 11, 1951-March 11, 1951; circulated to The Baltimore Museum of Art, March 21, 1951-April 21, 1951.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23, 1953-November 22, 1953.
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.
The University Art Museum, Austin, TX, "Fauve Color", January 23, 1972-February 20, 1972, no. 15.
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. 15.
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.
Judi Freeman, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, "Fauves", December 8, 1995-February 18, 1996, no. 80; circulated to The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, February 29, 1996-May 13, 1996.
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. 5; circulated to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, January 8, 1997-February 11, 1997.
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.
Joséphine Matamoros and Dominique Szymusiak, Musée Départemental d'Art Moderne, Céret, France, "Matisse-Derain Collioure 1905, un Été Fauve", June 18, 2005-October 2, 2005, no. 131; circulated to Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, October 22, 2005-January 22, 2006 (exhibited as "Poterie Jaune de Provence").
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.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, "Matisse/Diebenkorn", The Baltimore Museum of Art, October 23, 2016-January 29, 2017. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, March 11, 2017-May 29, 2017.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Matisse, Derain, and the Vertigo of Color", October 16, 2023-January 21, 2024. Circulated to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston February 25, 2024-May 27, 2024.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1930, p. 5 or 6, no. 25 or 42 (published "Still Life").
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, p. 24, pl. 31, ill. (published as "La Poterie Provençale Jaune").
Gertrude Stein, "L'Atelier de Gertrude Stein," "Gazette des Beaux-Arts," January 1934, no. 140, vol. 11, p. 236, ill.
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, no. 30.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., "Matisse: His Art and His Public," New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, pp. 83, 532, 557, 575 (published as "Yellow Jug").
Clive Bell, "Modern French Painting: The Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1951, p. 3 (published as "Pottery from Provence").
Kenneth B. Sawyer, "The Miracle of Matisse," "The Baltimore Sun," December 12, 1954, p. A3 (published as "Yellow Jug").
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. 42.
Barbara Pollack, "The Collectors: Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone," Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1962, pp. 89, 108.
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, p. 66, no. 39.
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, pp. 76, 86, 90, 161, p. 90, ill.; p. 15 (BMA).
Massimo Carrà and Mario Luzi, "L'opera di Matisse dalla rivolta 'fauve' all'intimismo 1904-1928," Milan: Rizzoli 1971, pp. 88, 89, 113, 114, no. 70, ill. (published as "Ceramica Gialla di Provenza").
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. 15.
John A. Beck and Donald B. Goodall, "Fauve Color," Austin: The University Art Museum, 1972, cat. no. 15.
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. 15.
Pierre Schneider, Massimo Carrà, and Xavier Deryng, "Tout l'Oeuvre Peint de Matisse 1904-1928," Paris: Flammarion, 1982, pp. 88, 89, 114, no. 70, ill. (published as "La Cruche Provençale").
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. 81 (published as "La Poterie Provençale").
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 30, 96, 158, 166, 168, 197, ill. pp. 30, 166.
Renate Stendhal, "Gertrude Stein: Ein Leben in Bildern und Texten," Zurich: Arche, 1989, p. 64, ill.
Jay M. Fisher, "Drawings from the Collection of Claribel and Etta Cone at The Baltimore Museum of Art," "Drawing: The International Review published by The Drawing Society," Vol. XVII, No.1, May - June 1995, p. 3.
Judi Freeman, "Fauves," Sydney, Australia: The Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1995, pp. 214-215, no., 80, ill.
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. 43, 50, 158, no. 5, ill.
Brenda Wineapple, "Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein," New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996, pp. 232, 251, 514, ill. p. 251.
John O'Brian, "Ruthless Hedonism: The American Reception of Matisse," Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 80, 280.
Sona K. Johnston and William R. Johnston, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse," London: Scala Publishers, 2000, pp. 31, 156.
Charles Darwent, "Double Vision," "The Independent, "June 17, 2001, p. 18.
Jay Fisher, "Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone: A Collection of Modern Art for Baltimore," in Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, ed., "Before Peggy Guggenheim: American Woman Art Collectors," Venice: Marsilio, 2001, p. 118 (published as "Yellow Pottery at Provence").
Jack Flam, "Matisse in the Cone Collection: The Poetics of Vision," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2001, pp. 19, 34-35, pl. 9, ill.
Musée Départemental d'Art Moderne, "Matisse-Derain Collioure 1905, un Été Fauve," Paris: Éditions Gallimard, 2005, pp. 37, 193, 296, no. 131, ill. (published as "Poterie Jaune de Provence").
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. 138, 316, 365, 411, 486, no. 114, pl. 350, ill.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 17, 21, 31, 76, pl. 7, ill.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 51.
Cécile Debray, "Le Fauvisme," Paris: Éditions Citadelles & Mazenod, 2014, color ill. p. 121, no. 104 (published as "Poterie sur toile").
Bishop, Janet and Katy Rothkopf eds. Matisse/Diebenkorn. New York: Prestel, 2016.
Ocaña, M. Teresa. Los Fauves: La Pasion por el color. Madrid: Fundacion Mapfre, 2016.
Stavitsky, Gail, John Cauman, William C. Agee, et al. Matisse and American Art. Montclair, NJ: Montclair Art Museum, 2017, page 21.
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: Lower right, "Henri-Matisse" Verso: Center of top stretcher in black grease pencil, "#345"; in black ink, "30" Top stretcher in black grease pencil, "141"; in black ink, "5" Center stretcher in black ink, "30" Frame Inscriptions: Verso: Top right in black grease pencil, "20 1950.234"
