“What I am after is expression…Expression to my way of thinking does not consist of the passion mirrored upon a human face or betrayed by a violent gesture. The whole arrangement of my picture is expressive.”
—Henri Matisse
Matisse embraces the expressiveness of bodily abstraction in Le grand nu. The anonymity of the featureless women removes her from the realities of the human form yet maintains its intimate effect. Matisse explores the tonal range of lithography through lines built up with each crevice and shadow, evoking a rich charcoal-like depth. The contrast calls attention bright highlights of the woman’s arm, legs, and stomach – adding dimension and form to the woman’s supple form. As the woman’s arms curve and bend behind her neck, her legs cross, pulled toward her stomach in almost a gesture of self-consciousness, her body curled in onto herself.
Though Matisse created prints throughout his career, 1906 was a particularly robust year for his lithographs exploring the female form. Matisse typically used printmaking to unwind after rigorous and extended periods of painting and that same year he completed his canonical painting Le Bonheur de vivre. Le grand nu is the only print from this period where he drew directly onto the stone, celebrating the lush surface of the limestone, while the rest of his images were drafted on paper first then transferred. Today, Le grand nu is among Matisse’s most celebrated prints, held in the collections of many renowned museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée Matisse, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
