ABSTRACT
The project was presented in its entirety as an exhibition, In Search of Matisse, which opened in 2015 and was accompanied by the book Looters, Smugglers and Collectors: Provenance Research and the Market. Lydia Delectorskaya had posed in Matisse’s studio many times before, in a variety of staged arrangements, often in the same dress. In 1986, it was Delectorskaya herself who titled the painting in a manner that registers the mood of the model: Robe bleue, profil devant la cheminee, and aux soucis. The concept of provenance is used to describe the history of ownership in relation to a given work. While auction houses generally attempt to protect a buyer by keeping his or her name secret, an unbroken chain of ownership may serve to guarantee the value of a work, both in the sense of demonstrating ownership and verifying authenticity.
