Several Matisse

At the most recent Art Basel fair in Basel, paintings by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) could be found at several booths. London- and New York-based gallery Luxembourg & Co, for instance, was showing a 1939 canvas titled “Figure Assise et Torse Grec – La Gandoura” (“Seated Figure and Greek Torso – La Gandoura”), a remarkable indoor scene depicting two sculptures and, in the foreground, a seated woman in a large robe, sketched in pencil.

The influence of Cézanne

Paul Cézanne

As with his illustrious predecessor Cézanne, Matisse plays with the white of the canvas, integrating it fully into the composition.(Soon I will be writing about the exceptional Cézanne exhibition currently on view in Aix-en-Provence, which highlights a remarkable group of paintings and drawings in which the white of the background plays a central role.)

Shock of colors

Henri Matisse

Then comes the shock of the color planes: a yellow floor, green, violet and gray walls, and in white, the central female figure, rendered like a shadow, with a plant in the background depicted in a similar style. Matisse is free: He combines different techniques on a single surface, and that’s what makes him modern. The work was on sale for $8.5 million during the fair and remains available.

Nahmad

Henri Matisse

A little further away, at the booth of the Nahmad Gallery, a 1933 painting titled “Nu au Peignoir” (“Nude in a Bathrobe”) was on offer for €12 million. Here again, Matisse puts color and pattern into a dance: bluish checkered walls, a pale yellow bathrobe, a dark red floor, a voluptuous female body, half-exposed, and a head rendered with restraint.

Asking prices

The surprise with these two important works lies in the asking prices—relatively modest in a fair that is not known for its bargains. In 2024, the renowned Acquavella Gallery from New York offered a 1947 still life by Matisse for $8 million: It didn’t find a buyer. On June 24, 2025, Sotheby’s in London sold “Femme à l’Ombrelle” (“Woman with Umbrella”) (1919) for €2.9 million, in line with its estimate.

Declining rates

How is it that works by one of the two most important painters of the 20th century—alongside Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)—are being sold at declining rates? According to the Artprice database, auction sales for Matisse totaled €20.9 million for 587 lots in 2024, compared with €172.7 million for 3,509 works by Picasso sold that same year. Of the works offered, 22.9% of those by the Spaniard went unsold, versus 38.6% for the Frenchman. The picture is clear: Matisse is in less demand.

Record prices

Pablo Picasso

Picasso’s auction record, set in 2015, was €160.1 million for a major 1955 composition inspired by an Orientalist scene, Delacroix’s “Women of Algiers.” The painting is believed to have been acquired by an Asian collector. Matisse’s highest price, meanwhile, was achieved in 2018, also for an Orientalist work: “Odalisque Couchée aux Magnolias” (“Reclining Odalisque with Magnolias”) (1923), which sold for €67.9 million. The painting, though not particularly large (60.5 x 81.1 cm), had belonged to the legendary American collector David Rockefeller.

Henri Matisse’s record price

Since 1989, thirteen paintings by Picasso have surpassed the symbolic €50 million mark. For Matisse, that threshold has been crossed only once. Until 2018, the record—€35.9 million—was held by “Les Coucous, Tapis Bleu et Rose” (“Cowslips, Blue and Pink Rug”) (1911), once owned by legendary fashion duo Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.

Mutual admiration

It’s worth noting that Matisse and Picasso admired one another deeply, even as they were rivals.

In 2003, an exhibition titled Matisse Picasso at the Centre Pompidou — which  traveled also to New York and London — masterfully explored this relationship. Again in 2020 in Cambera the National Gallery of Australia dit a Matisse & Picasso show . 

Gertrude Stein

“Matisse and Picasso became friends, but they were also enemies,” collector Gertrude Stein would recall.

In his “Dictionnaire Picasso,”Pierre Daix writes: “The enmity was more on Matisse’s side, his need for superiority wounded by this virtuoso with a boyish demeanor and a disarming facility, who was capable of every transgression. He thereafter was constantly frustrated at being dethroned by this younger man in the avant-garde. For Picasso, it was the first time that the prodigy met with a real rival: Matisse was very different from himself, but superior in the breadth of his culture and the scope of his experience.”

Dominating art

Claudine Grammont, author of “Tout Matisse,” sums up the dynamic differently: “Together, they dominated art until the postwar era (with the exception of Duchamp and his legacy in the 1960s). There’s not a single movement in the first half of the 20th century that didn’t draw from one or the other. They would each, at different times, ask themselves of the other: ‘How does he do that?’” ( See here a report about Pierre Matisse, son of the painter at Musée Matisse, Nice)

Matisse and Marguerite

But the art market is not art history. It’s unfair. It catapults one artist to the top while the other lags behind, for reasons that are not aesthetic but technical. Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, co-curator of the excellent exhibition “Matisse and Marguerite,” on view through August 24 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, explores the master’s relationship with his daughter Marguerite, his protégée and favorite model.According to the art historian, “the gulf between these two artists is bewildering. Matisse is as great as Picasso. But there are fewer Matisse paintings in circulation, because he painted less. Today, Picasso’s name is known everywhere in the world. It’s a universal brand.” (See here a report about the painting L’atelier rouge by Matisse)

1800/5000

Experts like Claudine Grammont estimate Matisse’s painted oeuvre at around 1,800 works. Staffan Ahrenberg, owner of “Cahiers d’Art”—the publishing house that has issued the unfinished catalogue raisonné of Picasso’s work since 1932—puts the number of Picasso’s paintings at roughly 5,000.  (The number could be more than double.)

A well-known American dealer who prefers to remain anonymous notes: “Today, the art market is dominated by American collectors, who are themselves guided by advisors. And it’s clear that these advisors have limited knowledge of Matisse’s various periods. Picasso, on the other hand, is instantly recognizable, and his work—especially the late pieces, like the “Mousquetaires” series from the final years of his life—fits well alongside contemporary art.”

Overshadowed by Picasso

Franco-Swiss art advisor Thomas Seydoux, an influential figure in the international modern market, explains: “In market terms, Matisse has always been ‘overshadowed’ by Picasso. They often had the same dealers, the same collectors even, but Picasso’s oeuvre is broader—spanning seven decades.” He adds: “The works being sold today don’t reflect the full scope of his career. The Matisse paintings most often seen at auction are from the so-called ‘Nice period’ (Ed: c. 1918-1929). These are paintings that can seem a bit bourgeois, with their interior scenes, women at dressing tables… They don’t evoke enough of a sense of modernity. The relative decline in value for these Matisses has been confirmed since the time of Covid.” (See here the report about a Matisse show at Beyeler foundation in 2024).

Several markets for the same artist

In reality, there isn’t a single Matisse market, but several, depending on the period. The Fauvist paintings from 1905 to 1908 are highly sought after but virtually absent from the market. In May 2012, a “Bouquet de Pivoines” (“Bouquet of Peonies”) (1907) fetched €14.4 million. Today, one of the most prized periods is the end of his life, when, in order to continue creating despite his poor health, Matisse developed new techniques like cut-outs and paper collages. In 2024, “Jeune fille en robe rose” from 1942 sold for €9.1 million. It’s a radical composition: a woman’s face in yellow against a black checkered background.

2026: the late Matisse

In March 2026, Claudine Grammont will curate an exhibition for the Centre Pompidou at the Grand Palais focused on the years 1941 to 1954—an event expected to make an impact. The curator nonetheless defends all of Matisse’s periods: “The 1920s are often seen by historians as a regression, up until his departure for the United States. But I think the Nice years—beneath their pseudo-impressionist appearance—have a marked metaphorical quality.” Indeed, regardless of subject, the painter continued to play with color and pattern with great virtuosity.

Modest sums

On May 13, 2025, “Henriette, Robe Jaune” (“Henriette, Yellow Dress”) (1923), a painting in simplified forms of yellows and green stripes, sold for €1.2 million. In April 2024, “Paysage aux Environs de Nice” (Landscape on the Outskirts of Nice”), a fairly traditional painting directly inspired by Cézanne, went for just €302,400. These are modest sums for testaments offered by one of greats of 20th century painting.

Sold to Qatar

It’s also worth mentioning that rumors speak of major Matisse works being sold, with great discretion, to the State of Qatar. Unfortunately, these paintings will not be publicly visible until 2030, when the Art Mill Museum opens in Doha.