“There were two of them, they were sisters, they were large women, they were rich, they were very different one from the other one…”—Gertrude Stein
The Cohn sisters, Claribel Cone (1864–1929) and Etta Cone (1870–1949), lived in Baltimore, traveled 
extravagantly and amassed an extensive art collection. Claribel called her apartment in the Marlborough in Baltimore “the museum.” They knew not only Gertrude Stein but also Picasso and Matisse. Matisse became a friend and visited them in Baltimore in the 1930’s.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art has put together a Matisse show gleaned from the Cone collection that is well worth the drive.
If you can’t make it to Indy before the show closes on January 12, you can pick up a copy of Brenda Richardson’s “Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta,” 1985, which has excellent reproductions of Matisse drawings and paintings in the collection. I own a copy and have studied the paintings in reproduction there, but seeing the originals…Oh!
The book has all twenty-one stages of “Large Reclining Nude” that are buried under the final version, the twenty-second layer of paint. Matisse worked on the painting from May to October 1935 and took photographs at twenty-one stages of its development. This is fascinating enough. You think! But seeing the original, now in Indy for the exhibit, reveals yet another aspect of how hard he worked on this painting. He struggled with color. To get the color dynamic right, he pinned swatches of color paper or cloth onto the canvas. You can see the pin holes!
This is a smart show. It stresses the work process. Matisse looks fast and loose, doesn’t he?! Makes you feel light and freed from conventions. Go to Indy and see how hard he worked to make you feel that way.
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 
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