Hélène "Nono" Lebasque was the youngest daughter of Matisse's friend and fellow artist, Henri Lebasque (1865–1937). Nono was about eight years old when Matisse painted this portrait of her. The strong outlines, flat monochromatic background, and inclusion of the sitter's name at the top of the canvas (here, somewhat camouflaged by the dark vertical stripe at right) is typical of the portraits Matisse painted of his own children and their friends at this time. A related pen-and-ink portrait of Nono, also dated 1908, is in The Met's collection (2002.456.37a, b).
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Inscription: Signed (lower left): Henri Matisse; signed, inscribed, and dated (verso): Portrait de Henri Lebasque / dit Nono / Par Henri Matisse / 1908 -
Henri Lebasque, Paris (gift of the artist); Lebasque family, France; Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York (by 1936–d. 1967; on loan to MMA, 1936; her bequest to MMA)
Paris. Bernheim Jeune & Cie. "Exposition Henri-Matisse," February 14–March 5, 1910, no. 53 (as "Portrait," 1907, lent by M. H. L.).
Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University Faculty of Arts and Science. "Changes in Perspective: 1880–1925," May 2–June 2, 1978, unnumbered cat. (p. 16; as "Head of Nono, Portrait of Mlle. Lebasque").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Junior Museum. "Portraits: A Selection from the Department of 20th Century Art," November 25, 1980–February 16, 1981, no catalogue.
Bellevue, Wash. Bellevue Art Museum. "Five Thousand Years of Faces," January 30–July 30, 1983, unnumbered cat. (as "Nono, or Portrait of Mlle. Lebasque").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design," December 14, 1983–September 2, 1984, unnum. checklist (installed in galleries of Costume Institute exhibition).
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 24; as "Nono").
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Venice. Museo Correr. "Henri Matisse: Matisse et l'Italie," May 30–October 18, 1987, no. P19 (as "Ritratto di Nono," 1909).
Nagoya City Art Museum. "Henri Matisse Retrospective, 1869–1954," August 24–September 29, 1991, no. 19 (as "Portrait of Nono [Mlle. Lebasque]").
Hiroshima Museum of Art. "Henri Matisse Retrospective, 1869–1954," October 5–November 4, 1991, no. 19.
Kasama City Art Museum. "Henri Matisse Retrospective, 1869–1954," November 9–December 8, 1991, no. 19.
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "Matisse," March 29–May 16, 1995, no. 49 (as "Nono [Mlle Lebasque]").
Canberra. National Gallery of Australia. "Matisse," May 27–July 9, 1995, no. 49.
Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Matisse," July 19–September 3, 1995, no. 49.
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," September 14–November 24, 2002, no. 13 (as "Nono Lebasque").
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 7, 2002–March 9, 2003, no. 13.
Ferrara. Palazzo dei Diamanti. "Matisse, la figura. La forza della linea, l'emozione del colore," February 22–June 15, 2014, no. 12.
Canberra. National Gallery of Australia. "Matisse & Picasso," December 13, 2019–April 13, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 54).
Harry B. Wehle. "A Loan of Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 31 (October 1936), p. 209, as "Head of Nono"; notes that this work is currently on view in the MMA galleries, lent by an anonymous collector.
Henri Matisse. Portraits. Monte Carlo, 1954, ill. p. 21, calls it "Nono Lebasque" and dates it 1909.
Joshua Friedman inChanges in Perspective: 1880–1925. Exh. cat., Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University. New York, 1978, p. 16.
Dean Jensen. "Galleries Capture History." Milwaukee Sentinel (April 17, 1979), pp. 1, 7, ill. (color), calls it "Nono (Portrait of Mlle. Lebasque)"; notes that this painting is on longterm loan to the Milwaukee Art Center.
Thomas Schlotterback inFive Thousand Years of Faces. Exh. cat., Bellevue Art Museum. Bellevue, Wash., 1983, unpaginated.
Michael Lloyd in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 24, ill. (color).
Kay Larson. "The Met Goes Modern: Bill Lieberman's Brave New Wing." New York Magazine 19 (December 15, 1986), ill. p. 44 (color), calls it "Nono".
Marianna Minola de Gallotti. "Cronica de Italia." Goya no. 202 (January–February 1988), p. 238, ill.
Sophie McConnell. Metropolitan Jewelry. New York, 1991, p. 81, ill. (color), calls it "Nono (Mademoiselle Lebasque)".
Walter Guadagnini. Matisse. Milan, 1993, pp. 65, 102, 110, ill. (color), calls it "Portrait of Nono" and dates it 1907.
Roger Benjamin inMatisse. Ed. Caroline Turner and Roger Benjamin. Exh. cat., Queensland Art Gallery. Brisbane, 1995, pp. 28, 186, no. 49, ill. p. 191 (color), dates it 1909; describes it as "typical of the radical simplification [Matisse] sometimes achieved" in his portraits.
John Klein. Matisse Portraits. New Haven, 2001, pp. 127–28, fig. 87 (color), as "Nono (Mlle Lebasque)"; notes that the sitter's real name was Hélène; discusses its similarity to portraits of Matisse's children, Marguerite and Pierre, from the same period.
Pierre Schneider. Matisse. Rev. ed. (English ed., 1984). Paris, 2002, pp. 412, 417 n. 63, p. 446, ill. p. 314 (color), calls it "Portrait de Nono" and dates it 1909; notes that the sitter was the daughter of Matisse's friend, Lebasque, and Pierre Matisse's "'first fiancée'"; states that this picture was given to Lebasque by Matisse in exchange for Lily, a French sheepdog who appears in the painting "Tea" (1919; Los Angeles County Museum of Art).
William S. Lieberman inPicasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 2002, pp. 46, 167, no. 13, ill. p. 53 (color).
Magdalena Dabrowski in Sabine Rewald. The American Matisse: The Dealer, His Artists, His Collection. The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection. New York, 2009, p. 90, reproduces a related pen and ink drawing of the sitter (MMA 2002.456.37a, b), adding that she was eight years old at the time of this portrait.
Maria Luisa Pacelli et al. Matisse, la figura. La forza della linea, l'emozione del colore. Exh. cat., Palazzo dei Diamanti. Ferrara, 2014, pp. 100, 247, no. 12, ill. pp. 108 (color), 247.
Jane Kinsman in Jane Kinsman with Simeran Maxwell. Matisse Picasso. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Australia. Canberra, 2019, pp. 55, 181, ill. p. 54 (color).
Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice)
1906
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