Woman Seated in an Armchair

From Matisse to his dealer, Bernheim-Jeune, by contractual agreement in February 1922 (B-J no. 22961; B-J photo no. 4200, February 1922);{1} G. Bénard, Paris, France, in March 1922;{2} Sale at (Hotel Drouot, Paris) in 1933.{3} (Georges Bernheim et Cie, Paris);{4} Consigned to (Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, New York) in 1939;{5} (Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York) in 1942;{6} Theodore Schempp by 1944;{7} Purchased by Caroline Marmon Fesler [1878-1960], Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1944;{8} By her bequest to the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1961 (61.38). {1} Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, Henri Matisse chez Bernheim-Jeune, Paris 1995, volume 2, no. 513 (illustration). {2} Hotel Drouot, Paris, Collection G.B…, Catalogue des Tableaux Modernes, Aquarelles, Gouaches, Pastels, June 9, 1933, lot. no. 59 (illustration). This was the liquidation sale of Bénard Frères, a Parisian bank. {3} The transfer of this painting, then entitled “Figure dans (un) intérieur,” from Bernheim through to Schempp is detailed in the Jacques Seligmann & Co. Records available digitally at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/jacques-seligmann--co-records-9936 [captured January 2013]. For Bernheim’s ownership, see in particular Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, Jacques Seligmann & Co. Records, 1904-1978, Box 14, Folder 3, Frame 10. {4} For Durand-Ruel’s role, see in particular Ibid., Frames 20-21. {5} See Ibid., Box 206, folder 10, frames 6 and 7 (photo of painting), also Box 86, folder 10, frame 46 (correspondence between Seligmann & Co and Schempp), and Box 312, Folder 1, frame 27 (invoice to Schempp). {6} In the 1940s Schempp bought paintings in tandem with Seligmann, or on consignment from this dealer. {7} See Bill of Sale, dated 14 November 1944, in IMA Historical File (61.38).