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The Nightmare of the White Elephant

Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954)
Title The Nightmare of the White Elephant (Le Cauchemar de l'éléphant blanc)
Plate Number Plate IV, pages 26 and 27
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 65.23.4

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About this Work

In the brilliant light of the circus, a white elephant raises her trunk high into the air while balancing on a ball decorated with a blue star. According to Henri Matisse's studio assistant, Lydia Delectorskaya, the black shapes surrounding the elephant on the sides and on the bottom of the picture represent the elephant's memories of her birthplace in the dark forest. The black shape in the upper left is one of the forest's mosquitoes. Red slashes surround the elephant like the daggers of flames, suggesting her vulnerability in captivity.

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 IV, pages 26 and 27
Series Title Jazz

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"The Nightmare of the White Elephant | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=65.23.4