Skip to main content

L'Écorché, d'après Puget: M.1-2001

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

L'Écorché, d'après Puget
(Écorché, after Puget)

Maker(s)

Sculptor: Matisse, Henri
Founder: Valsuani, C.

Entities

  • Figure
  • Location note: base only is in Rug Store 3/B [24.04.19]

Categories

Description

Bronze, cast, and patinated brown, on a tall black marble cylindrical column with a separate short cylindrical section at the bottom. The nude man seated on a rectangular rock with a rough front. His right leg, lacking the foot, is forward, and his left leg is bent so that the knee is on the ground. His head is turned to his left, and his torso is turned and bent forward so that the right elbow rests against his right thigh, and the left is bent at the elbow and raised so that the hand is level with the chest.

Measurements and weight

Height: 37.9 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Paris

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (2001) by Whitbread, Humphrey

Dating

20th Century, Early
Production date: after AD 1903 : Original model: 1903. Present bronze cast at unknown date after 1903.

Note

In 1903, when Matisse made this interpretation of an écorché, the original was believed to be by Michelangelo. The original sculpture was later attributed to the French Baroque sculptor, Pierre Puget (1620-94). The present bronze was cast at the Valsuani Foundry, Paris and is number 8 of 10. Matisse included the plaster model of this sculpture in two paintings: 'Interior with aubergines' (1911, now Musée de Peinture et Sculpture, Grenoble) and 'Still life with aubergines' (1911, Private Collection).

Matisse is remembered by most people as a painter, but sculpture was an important aspect of his work. The majority of his sculpture was conceived between 1900 and 1909, but was not cast in bronze until towards the end of his life, or posthumously. The bronzes were cast mainly by the founders, C. Valsuani or A. Bingen-Costenoble of Paris. In the second decade of the century Matisse concentrated on painting but included representations of sculpture in about twenty of his interior views and still lifes. In the mid-1920s he returned to creative sculpture of human figures, creating many more between then and about 1932, but only three between the end of the 1930s and his death.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Project

  • Sculpture UK

Components of the work

Column composed of black marble
Bronze Depth 12.1 cm Height 22.8 cm Width 14.8 cm
Lower Base Diameter 13.9 cm

Materials used in production

Bronze

Techniques used in production

Casting (process) : Bronze, cast and patinated brown
Patinating

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: HM 8/10
  • Location: On the base below the left foot
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Mark

Inscription present: rectangular stamp

  • Text: Cire/C Valsuani/Perdu
  • Location: On the side of the back of the base
  • Method of creation: Stamped
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.1-2001
Primary reference Number: 20886
Entry form number: 145
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_1_2001
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 15 January 2024 Last processed: Monday 15 January 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "L'Écorché, d'après Puget" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/20886 Accessed: 2024-11-22 01:34:47

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/20886 |title=L'Écorché, d'après Puget |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 01:34:47|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-20886

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...