4209 - Matisse, Henri

Matisse, Henri Photographer: Wolfgang Vennemann (1908–1990). Photographic reproduction of two panels from Henri Matisse’s mural *La Danse de Merion*. 1932/33. 2 vintage gelatin silver prints, joined together with linen tape on the reverse. 16.8 x 43.8 cm. The left print is dedicated to Hans Purrmann and signed by Henri Matisse in pencil in the upper right corner; each print bears the photographer’s stamp on the reverse. Commissioned by Albert C. Barnes in 1930, *La Danse de Merion* was designed for the three arches above the windows of the main gallery at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. Matisse worked on the monumental mural in his studio in Nice, developing its composition with colored paper cutouts before completing the final version in 1933. Its simplified forms and expressive use of color foreshadow the cutouts that would become central to his later work. Wolfgang Vennemann, son of the photographer Albert Vennemann, lived near Monte Carlo in the mid-1930s, where he photographed the work and surroundings of artists on the French Riviera. This reproduction was dedicated by Matisse to the German painter Hans Purrmann, a former student of the artist. A related photographic reproduction of the complete mural can be seen in a 1948 photograph of Matisse’s apartment. – A few light discoloration spots, some surface pitting, and rubbing in areas; otherwise in very good condition. Provenance: From the estate of Hans Purrmann.