Henri MatisseFrankreich, 1869–1954The Conversation
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Eremitage
Saal440Sankt Petersburg, Russland
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- Geprüft
- 29. Aug. 2026
- Unverändert seit
- 30. Aug. 2026
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- Sammlungsdaten des Museums selbst
About the painting
The Conversation, a painting by Henri Matisse dating from 1908 to 1912, depicts the artist and his wife facing each other before a background of intense blue. It is in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
This was among several works acquired directly from Matisse in Paris by the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. After the Russian Revolution, the Shchukin collection was confiscated and, by 1948, was donated to the public along with the Ivan Morozov collection, at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
Read on
Matisse painted The Conversation at a time when he had abandoned the open, spontaneous brushwork of his Fauve period in favor of a flatter and more decorative style. The painting is large (69 5/8 in. x 85 3/8 in., or 177 cm x 217 cm), and shows Matisse in profile, standing at the left in striped pajamas, while his wife, Amélie, sits to the right. The flatly painted blue wall behind them is relieved by a window opening onto a garden landscape.
Art historian Hilary Spurling has described this "stern encounter" as "portray[ing] the profound underlying shape or mechanism of a relationship laid down for both parties on the day, soon after they first met in 1897, when Matisse warned his future wife that, dearly as he loved her, he would always love painting more."
The pajamas worn by Matisse were fashionable as leisure wear in early 20th century France. They had recently been introduced to Europe from India, where they were worn by tea planters, and Matisse habitually thereafter wore pajamas as his studio working clothes.
Angaben
- Inventarnummer
- ГЭ-6521
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Quellen
- Eremitage: the museum's own open data · abgerufen 29. Aug. 2026
- Bild: Eremitage — Museum open access
Derweil im Leben von Henri Matisse
Das ganze Leben1906
Meeting Pablo Picasso
The first meeting between Matisse and Picasso took place at the Steins' salon on the Rue de Fleurus in Paris. Their creative friendship was full of rivalry and mutual respect.
20 March 1906
"Le Bonheur de Vivre" at the Salon des Indépendants
Matisse presented "Le Bonheur de Vivre" (The Joy of Life), a painting combining pastoral and bacchanal motifs. Critics and academic circles reacted with extreme irritation, but Leo Stein purchased this painting as well.
May 1906
Trip to Algeria
Matisse visited the oasis of Biskra; immediately upon his return he painted "Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra)" and created the sculpture "Reclining Nude I." He brought back ceramics and textiles from the trip and became fascinated with the ornamental art of the Muslim East.
1908
Shchukin's Commission for "Dance" and "Music"
The Russian collector Sergei Shchukin commissioned three decorative panels from Matisse for his Moscow house: "Dance," "Music," and "Bathing" (which remained at the sketch stage). The money of Russian collectors allowed the artist to finally overcome his financial difficulties.
25 December 1908
"Notes of a Painter"
"Notes of a Painter" was published in La Grande Revue, in which Matisse formulated his artistic principles — the need to convey emotion directly through simple means.
January 1908
Opening of the Académie Matisse
With the support of the Steins, Hans Purrmann, and other patrons, Matisse founded a private, non-commercial painting school, where he taught from January 1908 to 1911. About 100 students studied at the academy during that time.
