Danse inachevée (1931) by Henri Matisse in the Salle Matisse in the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (@museedartmodernedeparis). In 1930 Matisse was commissioned a large work by Albert Barnes, an American millionaire chemist, businessman and art collector, to be placed in the building of the Barnes Foundation in Merion Station, Pennsylvania (now in Philadelphia). The foundation was primarily an educational institution, but also housed Barnes’ extensive art collection.
Matisse worked almost exclusively on this assignment for several years. The work depicted here, Danse inachevée, was – as the name suggests – never finished. Matisse wasn’t content with the way it turned out and started anew. The second version was finished but – due to an error in measuring – would never fit in the allocated space in the Barnes Foundation, and is also on display in the Museum.
What an absolute delight, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, after suffering the hell that is the Musée du Louvre nowadays.
Even though part of the museum was closed (I guess due to the nationwide strikes in France) I had an amazing couple of hours there, with lots of empty rooms if you had a little patience.
