This intimate exhibition of more than 30 dance-themed prints, drawings, and sculptures by the great French artist Henri Matisse spans three decades of the artist’s career—from sculptures created in 1909-11 to delicate drawings of dancers sketched in 1949.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a rarely shown series of 11 transfer lithographs of a dancer/acrobat moving through various positions that evolve into an abstraction of reality, movement, and shape. These prints, drawn as lithographs in 1931-32, but published after Matisse’s death, are among the most eloquent examples of the artist’s way of seeing.

The exhibition also includes an earlier series of prints of dancers by Matisse from 1926-27, two of his later series of drawings from 1949, and two sculptures by artists who were equally fascinated with dancers, Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas.

This exhibition is dedicated in memory of the artist’s grandson and BMA National Trustee Claude Duthuit.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by M&T Bank.