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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1953.42
People
Henri Matisse, French (Cateau-Cambresis, France 1869 - 1954 Nice, France)
Title
The Serf
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1900-1903
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228660

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
92.7 x 32.4 x 34.2 cm (36 1/2 x 12 3/4 x 13 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: back of base: HM 10/10
  • inscription: French: Valsuani cast ca. 1930
  • inscription: front of base, French: Le Serf
  • inscription: back of base; left side, French: Cire - C. Valsuani - perdue

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, New York], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1953.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
Copyright
© Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year
1953
Object Number
1953.42
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Albert Edward Elsen, The Sculpture of Henri Matisse, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York), pp. 24-40, fig. 26, 27, 32, 40, 42, 44, 45
  • Perry T. Rathbone, In Memory of Curt Valentin 1902-1954: An Exhibition of Modern Masterpieces Lent by American Museums, exh. cat. (New York, NY, 1954), n.p., cat. 23, ill. (b/w)
  • Perry T. Rathbone, European Masters of Our Time, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA, 1957), p. 23, fig. 11, ill. (b/w)
  • Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Matisse: His Art and His Public, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 1966), pp. 52, 305, repr.
  • Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, 1967)
  • Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY, 1967), cat. 35
  • Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, The Sculpture of Henri Matisse, exh. cat., Arts Council of Great Britain, London (London, 1984), p.9, fig 7
  • Caroline A. Jones, Modern Art at Harvard: The Formation of the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press, 1985). With an essay by John Coolidge and a preface by John M. Rosenfield. To accompany the inaugural exhibition at the Sackler Museum, Oct 21 1985 - Jan 5 1986, p. 70, fig. 64, ill. (b/w)
  • Jack Flam, Matisse in the Cone Collection: The Poetics of Vision, exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, MD, 2001), pp. 31-32, fig. 7
  • Collection(s), Matisse Museum (Le Cateau-Cambresis, France, 2002), pp. 15, 47, 82, 84, ill.

Exhibition History

  • In Memory of Curt Valentin 1902-1954: An Exhibition of Modern Masterpieces Lent by American Museums, Curt Valentin Gallery, 10/05/1954 - 10/30/1954
  • European Masters of Our Time, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 10/10/1957 - 11/17/1957
  • Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 05/08/1967 - 06/11/1967
  • Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 10/12/1967 - 12/03/1967
  • Pioneers of Modern Sculpture, Tate Britain, London, 07/30/1973 - 09/23/1973
  • Carvings, Casts, & Replicas: nineteenth-century sculpture from Europe & America in New England collections, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, 09/22/1994 - 12/11/1994; Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, 01/26/1995 - 04/23/1995
  • Modern Art at Harvard, Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 07/31/1999 - 09/26/1999; Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, 10/09/1999 - 11/14/1999; Matsuzakaya Art Museum, Nagoya, 12/02/1999 - 12/27/1999; Oita City Museum, Oita, 01/06/2000 - 02/06/2000; Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, Ibaraki, 02/11/2000 - 03/26/2000

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu