Lot 65, “Nu de dos, 4 etat (Back IV),” by Henri Matisse, numbered 00/10, bronze, 74 1/4 inches high conceived circa 1930 and cast in 1978
Lot 65 is a bronze sculpture by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) that was conceived circa 1930 and cast in 1978. Entitled “Nu de dos, 4 etat (Back IV),” it is 74 1/4 inches high and is numbered 00/10. It has an estimate of $25,000,000 to $35,000,000. It sold for $48,802,500 to Larry Gagosian. Another cast was illustrated as No. 28 in the 2009 book by P. Segalot and F. Giraud, “The Impossible Collection: The 100 Most Coveted Artworks in the Modern Era.”
The catalogue notes that his belongs to a series of four similar bronze sculptures that represent “Matisse’s most monumental and ambitious sculptural undertaking and the longest-lived single project of his career.” “This imposing set of relief, executed at widely spaced intervals between 1908 and 1931, has been lauded as ‘one of the artist’s most distinctive achievements.’….The present work is one of twelve bronze casts of this culminating relief, and one of only two examples that currently remain in private hands.”
As reported by Carter B. Horsley at The City Review 11/3/10
