The Back Series

The Back Series
Artist	Henri Matisse
Year	1909–1930
Type	Plaster / Bronze

The Back Series is a series of four bas-relief sculptures, by Henri Matisse. They are Matisse's largest and most monumental sculptures. The plaster originals are housed in the Musée Matisse in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France.

They were modeled between 1909 and 1930. Back (I) appeared in the second PostImpressionist show in London and the Armory Show in New York City.^[1]

All four sculptures were unique plaster casts until 1950, when Back (I), (III), and (IV) were cast in bronze. Back (II) was rediscovered in 1955, a year after the artist’s death, and then cast. The series have been cast in a bronze edition of twelve, including one for the artist's family. Nine complete sets are housed in nine major museums around the world:^[2]

• Musée National d'Art Moderne (Paris)^[3][4][5][6]
• Tate (London)^{[7][8][9][10]}
• Kunsthaus Zürich (Zürich)
• Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (Stuttgart)
• Museum of Modern Art (New York)^{[11][12][13][14]}
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington D. C.)^{[15][16][17][18]}
• Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden (Los Angeles)^{[19][20][21][22]}
• Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth)
• Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston)^{[23][24][25][26]}