The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 23, 2021

The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay

1917

Henri Matisse

(French, 1869-1954)

France, 20th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 58 x 75 x 7 cm (22 13/16 x 29 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 38.2 x 55.2 cm (15 1/16 x 21 3/4 in.)

Bequest of Lucia McCurdy McBride in memory of John Harris McBride II 1972.225

© Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Location

not on view

Description

Matisse painted this canvas in the summer of 1917 while being chauffeured by his son Pierre toward an airport on the outskirts of Paris. Suddenly, Matisse decided to paint the road from inside the car, which proved challenging, as zooming traffic forced the artist to keep the windows shut and constantly rocked the old Renault back and forth. Matisse nonetheless produced a novel view of life in the modern automobile age.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed upper right: "Henri-Matisse"

Provenance
Sold through Bernheim-Jeune to Adrien Hébrard, 1917; Mrs. R. A. Workman, London (1924); (Kraushaar, 1929, sold to donor, Mrs. Malcolm McBride, in 1941)
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 249 archive.org
Krauss, Rosalind E. Willem De Kooning Nonstop: Cherchez La Femme. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015. Mentioned: p. 30; Reproduced: p. 133, figure 62
Exhibition history

Los Angeles, California, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Automobile and Culture, July 21, 1984-January 6, 1985.

Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, Henri Matisse: The Early Years in Nice, November 2, 1986-March 29, 1987.

Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola Museum of Art, Carsinart, May 1, July 15, 1990.

London, England. Whitechapel Art Gallery. "Speed" 9/11 - 11/22/98.

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Speed-Visions of an Accelerated Age. Whitechapel Art Gallery (organizer) (September 11-November 22, 1998).

Cinématisse. Musée Matisse, Nice, France (organizer) (September 18, 2019-January 5, 2020) http://www.musee-matisse-nice.org/.

Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1972.225