Oil and charcoal on canvas
Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
Acquired from the artist by Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, July 13, 1907 [1]; purchased out of the Salon d'Automne by Leo [and Gertrude] Stein, Paris, fall 1907 and owned jointly until possibly February 1914 [2]; to Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Lausanne, November 1914 [3]; to Marius de Zayas (1880-1961), New York, by 1919 [4]; sold to John Quinn (1870-1924), New York, April 21, 1920 [5]; Estate of John Quinn, 1924; sold to A. Conger Goodyear (1877-1964), Buffalo, N.Y., January 1926 [6]; acquired by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1962 (Gift of A. Conger Goodyear in honor of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.).
[1] See letter Henri Matisse to Félix Fénéon, qtd. in Janet Bishop, Cécile Debray, and Rebecca A. Rabinow, eds., The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde., exh. cat. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2011, no. 143.
[2] It was previously assumed that the painting was owned by Michael and Sarah Stein. The following documents, however, qtd. in Bishop et al. 2011, no. 143, confirm Leo and Gertrude Stein's ownership: Exh. cat. Salon d'Automne, Paris, October 1-October 22, 1907 (no. 757bis: La Musique [esquisse]); copy/draft of letter Henri Matisse to Félix Fénéon, July 8, 1907.
[3] See Bishop et al. 2011, no. 143, ft. 4; p. 456, ft, +25.
[4] Included in Exhibition of Paintings by Courbet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Matisse, M. de Zayas Gallery, New York, November 17-December 6, 1919 (no. 20: Matisse, Music; repr.).
[5] Purchased for $1,100. See Benjamin L. Reid, The Man from New York: John Quinn and His Friends, New York: Oxford University Press, 1968, p. 471.
[6] See “The Noble Buyer:” John Quinn, Patron of the Avant Garde, exh. cat. Washington, D.C.: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, June 15-September 4, 1978), no. 46.
Provenance research is a work in progress, and is frequently updated with new information. If you have any questions or information to provide about the listed works, please email [email protected] or write to:
Provenance Research Project
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
Explore more
Henri Matisse
French, 1869–1954 428 works onlineThroughout his decades-long career as a painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker, Henri Matisse continuously searched, in his own words, “for the same things, which I have perhaps realized by different means.
Learn more →
Primitive art
A term that has been used to refer to the art of various historical European periods and of non-Western societies.
Learn more →
Henri Matisse
Gallery 506Henri Matisse’s audacious experimentation with form and color was inseparable from his dedication to an art of harmonious expression, an ambition lost on most of his contemporary viewers.
Learn more →
Audio
Audio from the playlist Collection 1880s–1940s
From MoMA Design Store
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.