Art Institute of ChicagoPublic domain

The Serf

Henri Matisse · 1900–03, cast c. 1908

Analyst brief

What the record supports

"The Serf," a bronze sculpture by Henri Matisse, was created between 1900 and 1903, with the casting occurring around 1908. It measures 91.5 × 30.5 × 34.3 cm (36 × 12 × 13 1/2 in.) and is classified as sculpture in the Modern Art department. The work is of French culture.

The initial known owners were Michael and Sarah Stein, who possessed the sculpture around 1908. It was later acquired by the Earl Stendahl Gallery in Hollywood, CA, likely by February 1949, before being sold to the Art Institute of Chicago on May 2, 1949, via the Edward E. Ayer Endowment in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson.

"The Serf" has been included in multiple exhibitions, such as the Museum of Modern Art's "Henri Matisse" in 1951–52 (traveling to Cleveland, Chicago, and San Francisco), and "Sculpture of the Twentieth Century" in 1952–53 (traveling to Chicago and New York). It was also featured in "Henri Matisse: Dessins et sculpture" in Paris and Brussels in 1975, and "The Age of Picasso and Matisse" in Fort Worth in 2013–14. Its potential inclusion in the 1908 Salon d'Automne is noted as "possibly."

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

Michael Stein (Mar. 26, 1865–Sept. 9, 1938) and Sarah Stein (born Sarah Samuels, July 27, 1870–Sept. 15, 1953), Paris, Garches, France and Palo Alto, CA, c. 1908 [Kimball 1948; letter from Fiske Kimball to R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Feb. 25, 1947, Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives; copy in curatorial object file]. Earl Stendahl Gallery, Hollywood, CA, probably by Feb. 1, 1949 [letter from Samuel Marx to Earl Stendahl, Feb. 1, 1949, Archives of American Art, Earl Stendahl Gallery, roll 2720, frame 1105; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Art Institute of Chicago, May 2, 1949.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Possibly Paris, Grand Palais, Salon d’Automne, Oct. 1–Nov. 8, 1908, cat. 910, as Le serf (bronze).
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Henri Matisse, Nov. 13, 1951–Jan. 13, 1952, cat. 76 (ill.), as The Slave, (1900–03); Cleveland Museum of Art, Feb. 5–Mar. 16, 1952; Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 1–May 4, 1952; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 22–July 6, 1952 (New York, Cleveland, and Chicago only).
Philadelphia, Museum of Art, Sculpture of the Twentieth Century, Oct. 11–Dec. 7, 1952, cat. 75, as The Slave, 1900–03; Art Institute of Chicago, Jan. 22–Mar. 8, 1953; New York, Museum of Modern Art, Apr. 29–Sept. 7, 1953.
Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Henri Matisse: Dessins et sculpture, May 29–Sept. 7, 1975, cat. 166 (ill.), as Le serf, 1900–1903; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Sept. 27–Oct. 26, 1975 (as Henri Matisse: Dessins et sculpture/tekeningen en sculpturen), cat. 158 (ill.), as Le serf/De lijfeigene, 1900–03.
Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, The Age of Picasso and Matisse: Modern Masters from the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 6, 2013–Feb. 16, 2014, no cat. no. (ill.), as The Serf, 1900–04.

Literature

Published references

Possibly Société du Salon d’Automne, Catalogue des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin, gravure, architecture et art décoratif, exh. cat. (Librairie Administrative Paul Dupont, 1908), p. 127, cat. 910, as Le serf (bronze).
Fiske Kimball, “Matisse: Recognition, Patronage, Collecting,” Philadelphia Museum Bulletin 43, no. 217 (Mar. 1948), p. 39, as The Slave.
Fiske Kimball, “Discovery from America,” Art News 47, no. 2 (Apr. 1948), p. 31, as The Slave.
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Matisse: His Art and His Public (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951), pp. 305, 557, as The Slave (Le serf), Paris (1900–03) and The Slave 1900–02.
Museum of Modern Art, Henri Matisse, exh. cat. introduction by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951), pp. 11, cat. 76; 14 (ill.), as The Slave, (1900–03).
Museum of Modern Art, Sculpture of the Twentieth Century, exh. cat., introduction by Andrew Carnduff Ritchie (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952), p. 45, cat. 75, as The Slave, 1900–03.
Andrew Carnduff Ritchie, Sculpture of the Twentieth Century (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952), p. 58 (ill.), as The Slave, 1900–03.
Andrew C. Ritchie, “Sculpture of the Twentieth Century,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 47, no. 1 (Feb. 1, 1953), pp. 8–9 (ill.), as The Slave, 1900–1903.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Matisse Retrospective Exhibition,” Calendar of the Art Institute of Chicago 60, no. 2 (Mar. 1966), n. pag. (ill.), as The Slave, 1900–1903.
A. James Speyer, “Twentieth-Century European Painting and Sculpture,” Apollo, n.s., 84, no. 55 (Sept. 1966), p. 223, fig. 1, as The Slave, 1900–3.
Musée National d'Art Moderne, Henri Matisse: Dessins et sculpture, exh. cat., introduction by Dominique Bozo (Centre Georges Pompidou, 1975), pp. 188–90, cat. 166 (ill.), as Le serf, 1900–1903.
Henri Matisse: Dessins et sculpture/Tekeningen en sculpturen, exh. cat., introduction by Dominique Bozo (Société des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, 1975), cat. 158 (ill.), as Le serf/De lijfeigene, Paris, 1900–03.

Comparables