Henri Matisse’s Model in the Studio is from a series of large brush and ink drawings made in 1947-1948. In subject matter and scale, the drawings are closely related to paintings of large interiors he was doing contemporaneously in Venice. About the series, Matisse himself wrote: “The special quality of brush drawing … though a restricted medium, has all the qualities of a painting … It is always color that is put into play, even when the drawing consists of merely one continuous stroke. Black brush drawings contain, in short, the same elements as colored paintings.”
Model in the Studio also demonstrates Matisse’s continued interest in the theme, which he had explored extensively in both drawings and paintings in the 1920s and 1930s. LACMA has a superb group of seven drawings total, ranging in date from 1923-1948 and in different media (ink, brush and ink, graphite, and charcoal), that demonstrate this important artist’s facility and inventiveness as a draughtsman. Leslie Jones, Curator, Prints and Drawings (2011)
