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The Toboggan

Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954)
Title The Toboggan (Le Tobogan)
Plate Number Plate XX, page 143
Series Jazz
Date 1943–1947, published 1947
Medium Color pochoir (stencil) and lithograph 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 65.23.20

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About this Work

A tumbling blue figure hurtles through a deep violet space on her toboggan. A ripple of pink accentuates her bumpy ride, punctuated with sparks or starbursts of yellow and red. We cannot be sure which way she is headed, but her airborne topsy-turvy posture suggests the trill of being tossed about, not knowing how or where one will land. In "Jazz," Matisse noted his approval of a life lived with abandon: "He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him 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 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 XX, page 143
Series Title Jazz

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"The Toboggan | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=65.23.20