NOTES
A confident woman, elegantly dressed in a ruffled blouse with puffed sleeves and a skirt, gazes directly out toward the viewer in this charcoal drawing. The woman is Lydia Delectorskaya, Henri Matisse’s model, studio assistant, and, by the end of his life, his constant companion. Beginning in 1936, Matisse drew and painted numerous pictures of Lydia wearing this dress made of blue taffeta, which she designed at his request.
Matisse came from a family of weavers and was an avid collector of textiles and costumes, including dresses, which he used frequently in his works. He was especially fascinated by the patterns, textures, and colors of these objects. Even in this black-and-white drawing, he conveys the slight sheen and stiffness of the taffeta sleeves in contrast to the softer ruffles on the bodice.
