August 1914

Yvonne Landsberg

French, 1869 - 1954

This odd, caricature-like drawing depicts the nineteen-year-old Yvonne Landsberg who is the subject of the artist's somber and innovative painting of 1914 in the Museum's collection (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1950-134-130). A shy girl of Brazilian birth, Landsberg was evidently a fascinating subject for Matisse, who made numerous drawings, etchings, and several versions of the painting during many sittings. An erased inscription on this sheet reads "cinquante exemples" (fifty examples), which suggests that it may have been intended as the model for an etching that Matisse never executed.