The Back (III)
Henri Matisse
French, 1869–1954
Issy-les-Moulineaux, by May 13, 1913 - early fall 1916
A bronze relief in which Matisse reduces a human back to sweeping, rhythmic masses, testing how far the figure can be simplified while still feeling alive.
You first notice the dark, hammered surface and a central vertical ridge that anchors rounded, flattish volumes—hips, shoulders, a hinted spine—pushing out of the metal with rough, almost carved toolmarks that make the body feel both solid and flattened.
By stripping the body to bold, pictorial planes and tactile surfaces, Matisse helped move sculpture away from illusionistic modeling toward a modern language of abstraction and relief that influenced later 20th‑century approaches to form.
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
6' 2 1/2" x 44" x 6" (189.2 x 112.4 x 15.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund
Accession
5.1952
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
