Nice, December 1942
Original drawing, pen and inkk on paper
signed and dated lower left: H. Matisse 12/42
51 x 41 cm (20 x 16 inches)
Provenance: Artist's estate, The Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York; Max Wilk private collection, Connecticut, USA; private collection Melbourne, Australia; private collection Sydney, Australia.
Given the striking physiological resemblance of the sitter in Jeune Femme Assise to the female portrayed in the painting Monique which Matisse was working on at the time, it would seem likely that the present drawing is a portrait of the student nurse, Monique Bourgeois, who first met the aging artist in 1942, following his advertisement for a 'young and pretty night nurse' to assist him in his recovery from cancer. Better known as Sister Jacques-Marie after her entry into the Dominican order in 1943, she was the plainspoken nun whose warm, uncomplicated friendship with Matisse famously culminated in his beautiful decorations for the Rosary Chapel, Vence - today widely acclaimed his greatest masterpiece. Although media speculation at the unveiling of the commission implied their affection was more than purely platonic, Sister Jacques-Marie remained steadfast in her denial of such innuendo, noting she '...was more like a granddaughter or a muse.’ Indeed, when Matisse asked her to pose for him upon the conclusion of her assignment, she was surprised for, in her opinion, she had “never been considered a beauty.' Admiring 'the splendid mass of her dark hair and the way her neck rose from her shoulders like a white tower', clearly Matisse thought differently, immortalising her in numerous drawings and paintings, including Monique in a Grey Robe; The Idol; Green Dress and Oranges; and Tabac Royal.