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The Heart

Artist Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954)
Title The Heart (Le Coeur)
Plate Number Plate VII, pages 50 and 51
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 65.23.7

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About this Work

In "The Heart," Henri Matisse comments on the presence and absence of love. On the right side, the pink and black sheets set off a white sheet containing the red heart of human tenderness. On the left side, a green sheet frames a black void.

Matisse's "Jazz" text includes a meditation on the benefits of love: "Love alone makes light that which is heavy . . . makes sweet and pleasant all that is bitter. . . nothing is more gentle than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing larger, nothing more pleasant, nothing more complete, nothing better."

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 Draeger Frères, Paris
Printer Edmond Vairel, Paris
Plate Number Plate VII, pages 50 and 51
Series Title Jazz

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"The Heart | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=65.23.7