Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

The Pink Tablecloth

© Succession H. Matisse/ DACS 2024. Image credit: Glasgow Life Museums

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

Knowing that life could be difficult, stressful and sad, Matisse wanted his paintings to be a source of comfort and joy. By simplifying the shapes of the objects in his paintings, by heightening the colours and playing shapes and colours off against each other, he produced works that are full of seductive harmonies and compelling disharmonies. But there can also be something quite startling, even shocking in his paintings. William McInnes, the Glasgow collector who owned this painting, loved it at first sight. But it took the gentle persuasion of Scottish artist Leslie Hunter and dealer A. J. McNeill Reid for him to be brave enough to buy it. It was probably painted for Matisse's appartment in Nice – the vase, the fruit stand and tablecloth appear in several other still lifes painted there between 1924 and 1925.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Title

The Pink Tablecloth

Date

c.1924–1925

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 60.3 x W 81 cm

Accession number

2402

Acquisition method

bequeathed by William McInnes, 1944

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

signed/dated

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8AG Scotland

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue