Through the Other's Eyes: African Sculpture and Matisse's Young Sailor Series

In 1906, Henri Matisse encountered a Congolese figurine in Paris curiosities shop, initiating the French Modernist painter's interest in African art. Later that year, following a trip to Algeria, Matisse painted two portraits of the young seaman Germain Montargès. The first version, Young Sailor I, was painted in Matisse’s early post-impressionistic style, depicting the sailor in milky hues, his cap casting a shadow over his face. In the second version, Young Sailor II, Matisse departs from impressionistic norms, drawing upon the mode of seeing in African Sculpture to translate the figure into a series of colored planes. This exhibit brings together the Vili sculpture and both Young Sailor paintings for the first time, illustrating one of the earliest cases of African influence in Western Modernism.