More than twenty paintings and numerous related drawings, lent from public and private collections in both Europe and America, will be on view at the Norton before the exhibition continues at the Guggenheim Museum (New York City) where it will be presented from May 6 to July 23, 2006.

The focus of this suite of works was Matisse’s new Italian model who is known to us only by her first name, Laurette. Matisse painted her in a great variety of guises and poses. The exhibition will show each moment in this eventful and densely wrought progression.

Institutions lending works include the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The numerous private lenders include descendants of the artist himself.