Bathers with a Turtle

Bathers with a Turtle (Baigneuses), 1907–08, oil on canvas, 71 1/2 x 87 in. (181.6 x 221 cm), Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis

Bathers with a Turtle is a painting by Henri Matisse from 1907–08, in the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.^[1] It was purchased for $2400 by Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. in 1939 at an auction of art that the Nazi government considered "degenerate." He later donated it to the museum.^[2][3] Prior to that it had been in the collection of the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany.^[4] Pulitzer purchased it at the urging of Matisse's son Pierre Matisse, in order to prevent the artwork from being destroyed, despite the profit from the auction going to the Nazis.^[4]

References

1. Saint Louis Art Museum, Henri Matisse, Bathers with a Turtle Archived February 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
2. Dennis Barrie (1978-01-11). "Joseph Pulitzer interview, 1978 Jan. 11". Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
3. Houpt, Simon; Radcliffe, Julian (2006), Museum of the missing: a history of art theft, Sterling Publishing Company, p. 40, ISBN 1-4027-2829-8
4. Silva, Eddie (2000-04-12), ""Turtle" Diary", Riverfront Times