| Backcolor: |
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| The Boat | |
| Artist: | Henri Matisse |
| Year: | 1953 |
| Type: | Paper-cut |
| Height Metric: | 13.84 |
| Width Metric: | 10.33 |
| Height Imperial: | 5.4 |
| Width Imperial: | 4.1 |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| City: | Museum of Modern Art |
| Museum: | New York |
The Boat (French: Le Bateau) is a paper-cut from 1953 by Henri Matisse. The picture is composed from pieces of paper cut out of sheets painted with gouache, and was created during the last years of Matisse's life.
Le Bateau caused a minor stir when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which housed it, hung the work upside-down for 47 days in 1961 until Genevieve Habert, a stockbroker, noticed the mistake and notified a guard. Habert later informed The New York Times, which in turn notified Monroe Wheeler, the museum's art director. As a result, the artwork was rehung properly. An assistant curator blamed the confusion on a label on the verso posted the wrong way, as well as screw holes which implied it had been hung upside down before.[1] [2] [3]