Lorette (Alternate Title)
Tête de Femme (Primary Title)
Laurette (Alternate Title)
Henri Matisse, French, 1869 - 1954 (Artist)
Henri Matisse first rose to prominence in 1905 as the leader of the lively Fauvist painters. They dramatically broke with the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements that preceded them by using bold strokes of color as an expressive element in their landscapes and portraits.
In 1917 and 1918, Matisse produced a series of nearly fifty paintings of an Italian artist’s model about whom very little is known. Her name has been recorded at different times as “Lorette” and “Laurette.” This body of work marks Matisse’s shift from a relatively severe and abstract manner to a more naturalistic mode that would dominate his work in the 1920s. Recognizing the stylistic significance of this group of portraits, T. Catesby Jones purchased two examples. Seen side by side, the portraits (this one and 47.10.73) reveal the different ways in which Matisse emphasized asymmetries in the model’s features to express her individuality.
Modern French Painting, Norfolk Museum, March 1 - March 26, 1958; Mary Baldwin College, April 9 - April 19, 1958
Lynchburg Art Center, March 26 - April 16, 1954
Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA May 1953
"The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Roanoke," January 4 - 11, 1948
"Summer Exhibition: Painting and Sculpture from the Museum Collection and on Loan," The Museum of Modern Art, NY, June 23 - November 4, 1937
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
