La Silence Habité des Maisons

Dedicated to the writer and intellectual Célia Bertin, La Silence Habité des Maisons is a poignant meditation on our interior world. Created circa 1947, this aquatint reflects a period of post-war reflection, shaped by Matisse's years in Provence.
The composition features two seated figures, drawn with the lyrical characteristic of Matisse's late graphic work. Their presence is quiet and imbued with a kind of suspended stillness. The sparse lines and muted tones evoke not only the serenity of domestic life, but also its contemplative silence that, as the title suggests, lives within the house.
The print's dedication to Célia Bertin indicates the intimate connection between the pair. A celebrated French novelist, journalist, and biographer, Bertin (1920–2014) was a woman of deep intellect and keen moral sensibility. Active in the French Resistance and later honoured as both an Officer of the Legion of Honour and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, she personified the fusion of art and activism. Despite being born into privilege, she rejected passivity and the regular route or bourgeoisie women.
The work's emotional resonance lies not in realism, but in the mood it evokes: of silence, reflection, and space.

Aquatint printed in colours, circa 1947, on Arches paper, signed and dedicated to Celia Bertin in pencil, aside from the edition of 200, printed by Lacouriere, Paris, with full margins, sheet 537 x 435 mm. (21 ¼ x 17 ¼ in.)

Duthuit IV