1914

Mademoiselle Yvonne Landsberg

French, 1869 - 1954

The process of making this commissioned portrait highlighted the tension Henri Matisse saw between representing human likenesses and fulfilling his own expressive inclinations. The artist first made a conventionally appealing drawing of Yvonne Landsberg, the daughter of a Brazilian family living in Paris. He then proposed to follow it with a painting, but only if he could render it as he saw fit. Completely redone at each sitting, the subject became progressively more difficult to recognize. Curves scraped directly into the surface conjure a budding flower—a visual analogy Matisse had used in other depictions of female sitters—but do not soften the picture’s impact. The final version is challenging to contemplate. Even its maker confessed to feeling shocked. The Landsbergs declined to purchase the portrait.