Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2009.

Images(2)

Bowl of Apples on a Table

Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954)

CultureFrench

Date1916

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions45 1/4 × 35 1/4 in. (114.9 × 89.5 cm)
Overall, Frame: 57 1/4 × 46 1/2 × 4 1/2 in. (145.4 × 118.1 × 11.4 cm)

InscribedSigned lower left: Henri Matisse

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.515

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 219

Label TextHenri Matisse French, 1869–1954 Bowl of Apples on a Table, 1916 Oil on canvas Are paintings meant to accurately reproduce the visible world, or should the artist focus more on creating a pleasing arrangement of shapes and forms? Here, Henri Matisse shows us that a painting can do both. We recognize the bowl of apples on the table, and we may guess that the shapes on the left are the shutters on a window. Matisse tells us just enough to ground us in a familiar world. But he also flattens his space so that the elements of his composition seem to sit on the surface of the canvas. In the process, his wonderfully rich and resonant palette takes on a life of its own. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.515 ProvenanceThe artist; M. Duithuit, Paris; sale, collection Ch. V..., Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 21, 1931; Valentine Galleries, New York, by 1936; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. by 1937; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1971. Exhibition History"Twenty Paintings by Henri Matisse," Valentine Galleries, New York, Nov. 28 - Dec. 17, 1936. (Exhib. cat. no. 1). "Selected Exhibition of the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Collection," Detroit Institute of Arts, Oct. 5 - 31, 1937. (Exhib. cat. no. 39). "Picasso and Matisse," Boston Institute of Modern Art, Oct. 19 - Nov. 11, 1938. (Exhib. cat. no. 28). "Paintings by Henri Matisse," Arts Club of Chicago, March 30 - April 18, 1939. (Exhib. cat. no. 3). "Seven Centuries of Painting," California Palace of the Legion of Honor and M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, Dec. 29, 1939 - Jan. 28, 1940. (Exhib. cat. no. Y-186). "Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, and Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jan. 16 - May 11, 1941. (Exhib. cat. no. 121). "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, Massachusetts,1958. (Exhib. cat. no. 41). "French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 116). "The Controversial Century 1850-1950," Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1962. (Exhib. cat. not paged). "Henri Matisse, Exposition du Centenaire," Grand Palais, Paris, April - Sept. 1970. (Exhib. cat. no. 142). "Henri Matisse," Acquavella Galleries, New York, Nov. 2 - Dec. 1, 1973. (Exhib. cat. no. 11). "Homage to the Louvre," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, May - Sept., 1976. "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exhib. cat. no. 49). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 29). "Henri Matisse Sculptor/Painter," Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, May 26 - Sept. 2, 1984. (Exhib. cat. no. 31). "French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, May 31 - Sept. 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, Nov. 6, 1986 - Jan. 18, 1987. "Henri Matisse: A Retrospective," Museum of Modern Art, New York, Sept. 16, 1992 - Jan. 12, 1993. "Cézanne and Beyond," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennslyvania, February 26, 2009 - May 31, 2009. "Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917," Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, March 20 - June 20, 2010; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, July 18 - October 11, 2010. "Matisse: In Search of True Painting," Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, March 7 - June 18, 2012; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, July 14 - October 28, 2012; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, December 4, 2012 - March 17, 2013. "Collection Conversations: Henri Matisse: Harmonious Color," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, February 24 - June 28, 2015. "Cubism and War," Museu Picasso, Barcelona, October 2016 - February 2017. Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition_. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958: p. 23, no.41. Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam. _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. 1960. #116. Foreword by Charles F. Comfort, LL.D., and an introduction by William S.A. Dale, Ph.D. _The Controversial Century: 1850-1950_. Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Massachusetts. 1962. No pages. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 49. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 29. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 69. Jack Flam. _Matisse: The Man and his Art, 1869-1918_. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 1986: pp. 423, 429; ill. no. 433, p. 429. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. The Chrysler Museum. 1986. No. 43. Laura C. Lieberman. "Select Offerings: French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum," _Southern Accents_. Vol. 9, no. 6. 11/1986: 46-50. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991: 174-175, plate 132. John Elderfield. _Henri Matisse: A Retrospective_. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1992: 240, 269; color ill. no. 185, 260. René Percheron and Christian Brouder, _Matisse de la couleur à L'Architecture_ (Paris: Éditions Citadelles & Mazenod, 2002), 118--119, fig. 136. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 55, fig. 55. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1 Edited by Joseph J. Rishel and Katherine Sachs, essays by Roberta Bernstein, et al., _Cézanne and Beyond_, exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 2009, 131 plate 18. ISBN: 978-0-87633-209-2 Stephanie D'Alessandro and John Elderfield, _Matisse: Radical Inventory 1913-1917_, exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 2010, 277-279. Cecil Debray, _Matisse: Paires et series_, ex. cat., Centre Pompidou, 2012. p. 101-105, ill p. 102 _Matisse: Paires et series_, ("The Exhibition"), Centre Pompidou, 2012. p. 25 Dorthe Aagesen and Rebecca Rabinow, eds., _Matisse: In Search of True Painting_, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012) 96, 211-212. Christopher Green, _Cubism and War: The Crystal in the Flame_, Museu Picasso (Barcelona, Fundacio Museu Picasso de Barcelona Ediciones Poligrafa, 2016), catalog #20, p. 103.