The Swimmer in the Tank

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Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954)

Title The Swimmer in the Tank (La Nageuse dans l'aquarium)

Plate Number Plate XII, pages 86 and 87

Series Jazz

Date 1943–1947, published 1947

Medium Color pochoir (stencil) on paper

Dimensions Image: 16 5/8 × 25 5/8 in. (42.2 × 65.1 cm)
Sheet: 16 5/8 × 25 5/8 in. (42.2 × 65.1 cm)
Portfolio: 17 1/2 × 13 3/8 × 2 1/4 in. (44.5 × 34 × 5.7 cm)

Credit Line Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 65.23.12

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About this Work

This cutout recalls Henri Matisse's visit to a music hall where he saw a woman swimming in a large aquarium on the stage. The white-bodied swimmer glides through the water with outstretched arms and legs. A red-faced spectator, perhaps Matisse himself, enjoys the view from his position below the stage. The odd angle of the eyebrow suggests that his head is tilted back.

Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art has a complete copy of Matisse's Jazz (Eskenazi Museum of Art 65.23.1–.20) in its original slipcase bearing a personal inscription to the artist’s friend Jean Puy, a Post-Impressionist painter.

Provenance
More Details

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

Publisher Tériade
Printer Edmond Vairel, Paris
Printer Draeger Frères, Paris
Plate Number Plate XII, pages 86 and 87
Series Title Jazz

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"The Swimmer in the Tank | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=65.23.12