Three Sisters

Three Sisters, 1916-1917

Three Sisters, 1916-1917, Henri Matisse (Le Cateau 1899-Nice 1954) at Musée de l'Orangerie

The portrait of these three sisters is one of Matisse's major works.
Three young brunettes sat in front of the background of the bistre.
Two of the young women saw us while the latter was absorbed in her reading.
The painter managed to create the perfect balance between seemingly incompatible elements: the different attitudes of the three sisters, the discordant colors, the impression of alignment of some level of perspective.
Various sources helped inspire this painting: Manet's paintings (1832-1883), Japanese carvings, and the paintings of Les dames de Gand (The Three Gand Ladies) preserved in the Louvre and at that time attributed to Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). ),
could be an inspiration for Matisse. At that time, Matisse's interest in this subject was expressed many times and brought up versions.
Thus, we know three paintings that also depict three sisters, each wearing different clothes and poses, preserved at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
That's probably where explanations can be found for the presence of paintings in the Musée de l'Orangerie.
In fact, art dealer Paul Guillaume contributed heavily to his collection of Doctors Barnes (1872-1951) and it is quite possible that the Matisse paintings representing the three sisters came through his gallery before arriving in the United States.
It was one of the few works Paul Guillaume bought with general sales, of course, in memory of the paintings handed over to Doctor Barnes.

Copyright Image Flickr
Meg Williams2009
Location
Paris