# The Dance by Henri Matisse (1910) Canonical article: https://www.artifact-archive.com/archive/the-dance-henri-matisse-1910 - **Painting:** The Dance - **Artist:** Henri Matisse - **Date:** 1910 - **Medium:** painting - **Culture:** France A docent's walk through what the record for this painting does, and does not, tell us: a 1910 work titled The Dance, attributed to Henri Matisse, known here only through a 2006 photograph that also catches a visitor looking at Matisse's Music. ## High-resolution image [The Dance by Henri Matisse (1910) | High-resolution image](https://www.artifact-archive.com/print-assets/76534737df26b283923d2306047771f549e45e7c24a5b2c11dc243ce01351cd7.png) Available image: 2,592 × 1,944 pixels. ## Artwork presentation record Artwork accent colour: #9B7E4E. Original-image hero position: 50% horizontal, 50% vertical. Decorative crops use the original artwork image; they are not technical examination images. ## Details to notice ### Rightmost dancer Detail ID: right_dancer_closing_circle. The rightmost figure turning inward with raised leg and linked hands. It closes the circle and balances the leftmost dancer's pose. Original-image crop (%): x 43, y 30, width 13, height 35. ### Lower foreground dancer Detail ID: lower_foreground_dancer. The bent or crouching figure in the lower foreground, completing the linked chain at the bottom of the canvas. The pose gives the ring its downward arc. Original-image crop (%): x 32, y 43, width 15, height 24. ### Upper central dancer Detail ID: upper_central_dancer. The upper central figure, with tilted head and extended arms linking the dancers on either side. This pose anchors the top of the ring. Original-image crop (%): x 28.000000000000004, y 20, width 12, height 25. ## The story We are looking at a painting identified as The Dance, made in 1910 by Henri Matisse. That identification rests on the title and category of a Wikimedia Commons file, not on a museum object record. The file also tells us something unusual about the image we have. Its own description says the photograph shows, in the foreground, a figure named Alex admiring Music, a painting of the same year, also by Matisse. Evidence: documented. Source references: source-1. So the picture in front of you is a photograph before it is a painting. Andrew Gatt took it on the seventh of July, 2006, and the camera recorded the moment. That photograph is the only evidence supplied here for the work's title, its date and its maker. The Commons file is filed under the category La Danse II by Henri Matisse, and its title gives the painting as The Dance of 1910. Evidence: documented. Source references: source-1. What the record does not carry matters just as much. It gives no description of the figures, the action or the composition of The Dance itself. No museum, collection or site is documented for the painting in these excerpts either. So we cannot say, on this evidence, where it hangs or who owns it now. Evidence: documented. Source references: source-1. This is a useful distinction for any gallery visit. A file can preserve a photograph of a painting, name it, date it and license it, without ever describing what the painting depicts. The second painting in the frame, Music, appears only as something being looked at. It is named and dated, and that is all the record claims for it here. Evidence: interpretation. Source references: source-1. So what can we honestly say as we stand here? The work is identified as The Dance, 1910, by Henri Matisse, and the image we have of it comes from a photograph taken in 2006. Anything further about the dance, the dancers or the meaning of the picture would have to come from a source that actually describes the painting. The excerpts supplied do not, and I will not invent them. Evidence: documented. Source references: source-1. ## About the artist ### Henri Matisse 1869 to 1954 Henri Matisse was a French artist (1869–1954). Their work is associated with Impressionism; divisionism; Fauvism; Neo-impressionism; Post-impressionism. Their recorded places of work include Paris; Saint-Quentin; London; Saint-Tropez; Collioure; Issy-les-Moulineaux; Morocco; Nice; New York City; Vence; Cavalière (Var). - **Born:** 1869 - **Died:** 1954 - **Nationality:** France - **Birthplace:** Le Cateau-Cambrésis - **Died in:** Nice ![Artist portrait of Henri Matisse]() Artist portrait. Image credit: Carl Van Vechten. [Image source](). [Licence: Public domain](). - [Wikidata: Henri Matisse]() ## Research and reference record ### Structured catalogue record #### Title Field ID: title. The Dance Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Artist or attribution Field ID: artist. Henri Matisse Source IDs: none linked in the published record. #### Object date Field ID: date. 1910 Source IDs: none linked in the published record. #### Medium and support Field ID: medium. painting Source IDs: none linked in the published record. #### Country or culture Field ID: culture. France Source IDs: none linked in the published record. #### Depicted subject Field ID: subject-summary. The supplied Wikimedia Commons file record identifies the image as a photograph of The Dance, a 1910 painting by Henri Matisse. The same record describes a foreground figure admiring Music, also by Matisse, and files the image under the category La Danse II by Henri Matisse. The excerpts do not themselves describe the depicted subject or action of the painting, so no subject beyond the cited title, artist and date is asserted here. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Title variants Field ID: title-variants. The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg; La Danse II Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Attribution qualification Field ID: attribution-qualification. The painting is identified as by Henri Matisse only through the Wikimedia Commons file title and category. The photographer of the supplied image is Andrew Gatt and is not the artist. Source IDs: none linked in the published record. #### Dimensions Field ID: dimensions. Unknown Source IDs: none linked in the published record. #### Period Field ID: period. Unknown Source IDs: none linked in the published record. ### Identity and catalogue Research section ID: catalogue. #### The Commons record and its naming Claim ID: archive-919b73cdda542906cb7d. Evidence: documented. The principal record available here is a Wikimedia Commons file page whose title identifies the depicted work as The Dance, dated 1910, and attributed to Henri Matisse. That title is the basis on which the painting is named and dated in this account. The same file page files the image under the category La Danse II by Henri Matisse, so the record itself carries two overlapping naming conventions for the same claimed work: an English-language title, The Dance, and a French-language category, La Danse II. Anyone using this file as a discovery aid should register that the identification and the 1910 date rest on the file title and category rather than on an institutional object record, and that the file page functions as a pointer to a painting rather than as a catalogue entry for it. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: File title; Category; Summary, Date, Author, Licensing Claim ID: archive-89cd2366c88976359bf4. Evidence: documented. The Commons file also carries structured data, and this layer does not agree with the rest of the page. Its structured data records the depicted entity as 'Dance' and gives the creator name string as Andrew Gatt. Andrew Gatt is documented elsewhere on the page as the photographer of the uploaded image, dated 7 July 2006 and released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence. The creator field in structured data therefore appears to describe the maker of the photograph rather than the painter of the painting, while the file title attributes the painting to Henri Matisse. This discrepancy should be preserved rather than smoothed over: the same page asserts, in different places, a depicted entity called Dance and a creator string naming the photographer. Categorisation under La Danse II, the English title The Dance, and the structured-data entity Dance are three variants of the work's name appearing in one file record. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Structured data; Summary, Date, Author, Licensing; Category; File title #### What the record does and does not establish Claim ID: archive-01d18554e86377f89d70. Evidence: interpretation. Read together, these units establish a sharp distinction that matters for how the object is described. The painting is identified, dated and attributed only through the wording of a file title and a category; the file page supplies a photographer, a capture date, a licence, an upload date, an uploader and a licence review, but no description of the figures, the action or the composition of The Dance itself, and no documented present museum, collection or site for the painting. Because the descriptions of the photograph are about the act of photographing, not about the painted surface, the record supports statements about the image file and about the claimed identity of the painting, and it does not support statements about what the painting depicts or where it now is. This is the central qualification of the identity section: the catalogue-level facts here are file-level facts. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: File title; Category; Structured data; File history Claim ID: legacy-reference-identity-1. Evidence: identity. The Wikimedia Commons file is titled The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg, identifying the depicted painting as The Dance, dated 1910, by Henri Matisse. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] Claim ID: legacy-reference-identity-2. Evidence: identity. The Commons file is categorised under La Danse II by Henri Matisse. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] Claim ID: legacy-reference-identity-3. Evidence: identity. The Structured Data for the file records the depicted entity as 'Dance' and the creator name string as Andrew Gatt. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Subject and iconography Research section ID: subject. #### The photographic record and its limits Claim ID: fact-002. Evidence: observation. The image record examined here is not an institutional object record for a painting but a Wikimedia Commons file, titled to identify the depicted work as The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse and categorised under La Danse II by Henri Matisse. Everything the record establishes about the painting's title, date and maker follows from that file title and category rather than from a museum catalogue entry. The underlying digital image is a photograph by Andrew Gatt dated 7 July 2006, released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence, measuring 2,592 by 1,944 pixels at 1.48 megabytes and of MIME type image/jpeg. The record itself states that its own excerpts supply no description of the figures, action or composition of The Dance, and no present museum, collection or site for the painting, so no location and no account of the painted subject can be recorded from this source. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Description #### The photographed scene and the second canvas Claim ID: fact-002-2. Evidence: observation. Within the photograph, the record states that the foreground shows Alex admiring Music (1910), also by Matisse. This is a statement about a photographic composition, not about the painting The Dance: the figure named Alex and the second Matisse canvas are elements of Gatt's 2006 frame. The record names and dates Music and describes it only as something being looked at; it claims nothing further for that work. The distinction matters for research use, because the two paintings appear in this evidence at different evidentiary levels, one as the titled subject of the file and one as a named object within a viewer's line of sight, and neither is described as a painted composition. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Description Claim ID: legacy-reference-visual-evidence-1. Evidence: visual_observation. The Wikimedia Commons file record describes the image as showing, in the foreground, Alex admiring Music (1910), also by Matisse. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Materials and technique Research section ID: materials. #### Capture conditions of the source photograph Claim ID: fact-008. Evidence: technical_analysis. The only primary evidence unit supplied for this section is a single camera metadata record attached to the Wikimedia Commons file The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg. It states that the image was captured with a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, at an exposure time of 1/8 second, f-number 2.8, ISO speed 100 and focal length of 8 millimetres, on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. These are the camera's own recorded settings rather than a scholar's assessment, and they are the only technical measurements available for the photograph that carries the painting's image into this research bank. Nothing in the supplied evidence reports how the painting itself was examined, sampled or imaged in a conservation or curatorial setting, so the technical account here is necessarily an account of a digital photograph and its capture conditions, not of the painting's materials or support. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Metadata Claim ID: fact-008-2. Evidence: interpretation. Those settings can be read as constraints on what the photograph shows and what it cannot. The exposure time of 1/8 second is slow enough that hand-held camera movement is a plausible risk unless the camera was braced, while the focal length of 8 millimetres on a compact digital camera indicates a wide angle of view rather than a close, rectified study of a canvas. An aperture of f/2.8 combined with ISO 100 describes a fairly open lens and a low sensitivity setting, a combination consistent with photographing a flat subject in moderate light rather than with flash or high-gain capture. The metadata explains the conditions of capture but does not itself confirm that the image is sharp, colour-accurate, colour-managed or adequate for close reading, and no calibration target, lighting record or post-processing note accompanies it. Any inference about the painting's surface, colour or condition drawn from this file therefore rests on a single uncontrolled photograph rather than on measured examination. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Metadata Claim ID: archive-c75a3c432554bc84e12a. Evidence: interpretation. Taken together, these units define the scope and the limits of a technical account of this object. What can be stated with the evidence in hand is: the file is a 2,592 by 1,944 pixel JPEG of 1.48 megabytes; it was made with a Konica KD-500Z at 1/8 second, f/2.8, ISO 100 and 8 millimetres on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05; and its own record describes it as showing Alex in the foreground admiring Music (1910) by Matisse. What cannot be stated from these units is anything about the painting's materials, support, ground, pigment, varnish, underdrawing, pentimenti or treatment history, because no such examination is recorded here. Nor do these units establish a viewer-independent measurement of colour or surface. The technical value of this file is documentary and contextual: it fixes when, with what equipment and under what described circumstances the image of the painting entered circulation, and it marks clearly where a proper technical study of the work would have to begin from sources other than this photograph. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Metadata; File information; Summary, Description Claim ID: legacy-reference-technical-analysis-1. Evidence: technical_analysis. The camera metadata records a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, exposure time 1/8 second, f-number 2.8, ISO speed 100, focal length 8 millimetres, captured on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Condition and conservation Research section ID: conservation. #### The photographic surrogate and its file Claim ID: archive-30f9bf310b957a71d002. Evidence: interpretation. Before any account of the condition of the painting identified as The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse can be weighed, the character of the surviving visual record has to be established, because in this research bank the painting is known through a digital photograph rather than through an institutional examination. The original image file measures 2,592 by 1,944 pixels, occupies 1.48 megabytes, and is encoded as image/jpeg. Those figures describe the surrogate, not the canvas: resolution, compression and file size set the limit of what can be inspected on screen, and any apparent surface detail, craquelure or discolouration read from such a file is a property of the photograph and its processing as much as of the object. The same file carries camera metadata identifying a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, with an exposure time of 1/8 second at f-number 2.8, ISO speed 100 and a focal length of 8 millimetres, captured on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. The comparatively long handheld exposure and the small sensor implied by the focal length are technical conditions of capture that would bear directly on sharpness and on how faithfully tone and colour are rendered, so the photograph cannot be treated as a neutral or measured record of the painting's surface. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: File information; Metadata Claim ID: legacy-reference-condition-conservation-1. Evidence: condition. The original image file is 2,592 by 1,944 pixels, with a file size of 1.48 megabytes and MIME type image/jpeg. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Provenance and ownership Research section ID: provenance. #### The Photographic Record Claim ID: fact-004. Evidence: provenance. The provenance record available for this object begins not with the painting but with a photograph of it. The image supplied is a photograph by Andrew Gatt, dated 7 July 2006, and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence. The camera metadata preserved with the file records a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, an exposure time of 1/8 second, an f-number of 2.8, ISO speed 100, a focal length of 8 millimetres, and a capture timestamp of 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. The original file is 2,592 by 1,944 pixels, 1.48 megabytes, MIME type image/jpeg. These details establish the photographic act as a documented event with a named maker and a stated date, and they are the earliest dated moment in the chain of custody recorded in these excerpts. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Date, Author, Licensing Claim ID: archive-ed76c0e3e737bb33ef06. Evidence: provenance. The photograph entered Wikimedia Commons on 2 January 2025, uploaded by El Nuevo Doge using UploadWizard, from a Flickr source posted by Andrew Gatt. On the same date, the file page states that the image was reviewed by FlickreviewR 2 and confirmed as licensed under CC BY 2.0. The Structured Data for the file records the depicted entity as 'Dance' and the creator name string as Andrew Gatt. The transfer into Commons therefore carries a same-day licence verification, which is the only formal rights check documented in these excerpts, and it fixes the point at which the image became publicly reusable under a stated licence rather than merely viewable on Flickr. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: File history; Licensing #### What the File Establishes and What It Does Not Claim ID: fact-004-2. Evidence: provenance. The identification of the subject of that photograph rests on the Commons file itself: the file title gives the painting as The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse, the file is categorised under La Danse II by Henri Matisse, and the description states that the photograph shows, in the foreground, Alex admiring Music (1910), also by Matisse. The transcript accompanying this research notes that this identification rests on the title and category of a Wikimedia Commons file rather than on a museum object record, and the source annotation likewise characterises the page as a discovery aid rather than an institutional object record. The distinction matters for provenance because a file title and a category are attributional metadata assigned to a photograph, not a chain of ownership, and they do not by themselves establish who has held the painting. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Date, Author, Licensing Claim ID: fact-004-3. Evidence: interpretation. The limits of the record are as consequential as its contents. The supplied excerpts do not document a present museum, collection or site for the painting The Dance, and so no current location can be recorded from this source. They also do not describe the depicted figures, action or composition of The Dance, and no such details are asserted in this research bank. For a provenance account this means there is no documented owner, no recorded sale, no dated acquisition and no transfer of the painting itself anywhere in the evidence; there is only the provenance of an image. An unrecorded interval of this kind must be described as unrecorded rather than treated as a change of ownership, because nothing in these units establishes that the painting moved, was sold, or changed hands at any point. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Date, Author, Licensing Claim ID: archive-0e5aed4d42c70e5b7b70. Evidence: provenance. Read together, the units place two distinct objects in sequence without conflating them. One is a painting identified in the file title as The Dance of 1910 by Henri Matisse and categorised as La Danse II by Henri Matisse; the other is a 2006 photograph of a scene in which that painting and Music appear, taken by Andrew Gatt, licensed under CC BY 2.0, uploaded to Commons on 2 January 2025 by El Nuevo Doge from a Flickr source, and confirmed under that licence the same day by FlickreviewR 2. The chronological order the evidence supports is therefore: the photograph taken 7 July 2006, its Flickr posting by its author, its Commons upload and licence review on 2 January 2025, and its subsequent use in Public Domain Day 2025 and on the Polish Wikipedia article on the painting. Nothing in these units dates the painting's making, movement or custody beyond the 1910 attribution carried in the file title, so the painting's own provenance history remains open on this evidence. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Date, Author, Licensing; File history; Licensing Claim ID: legacy-reference-provenance-1. Evidence: provenance. The uploaded image is a photograph by Andrew Gatt, dated 7 July 2006, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] Claim ID: legacy-reference-provenance-2. Evidence: provenance. The file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons on 2 January 2025 by El Nuevo Doge, using UploadWizard, from a Flickr source posted by Andrew Gatt. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] Claim ID: legacy-reference-provenance-3. Evidence: provenance. The file page states that the image was reviewed on 2 January 2025 by FlickreviewR 2 and confirmed as licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Ownership and movement timeline **7 July 2006:** Photograph of the painting taken by Andrew Gatt and released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence. Timeline event ID: timeline-ad8098c8afccf06ca6b1. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Summary, Date, Author, Licensing **2 January 2025:** Image file uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by El Nuevo Doge via UploadWizard from a Flickr source posted by Andrew Gatt. Timeline event ID: timeline-8ac9f836a1113b1574ed. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: File history **2 January 2025:** The file was reviewed by FlickreviewR 2 and the CC BY 2.0 licence was confirmed. Timeline event ID: timeline-9ea0239ed819a1826cc8. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Licensing ### Reception and literature Research section ID: reception. #### Identification and Current Circulation Claim ID: fact-009. Evidence: documented. The only evidence supplied for the painting's identification as The Dance, 1910, by Henri Matisse is the Wikimedia Commons file page, whose title and category assign that name, date and authorship. The file is categorised under La Danse II by Henri Matisse. This is a discovery aid rather than an institutional object record, so the identification is documented at the level of a Commons file title and category, not a museum catalogue entry. The same page records that the image was published as part of Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Day 2025 and is used on the Polish Wikipedia article Taniec (obraz Henriego Matisse'a). Those two facts mark the most recent stage of the work's reception documented here: circulation through an open-licence media repository and citation in a national-language encyclopedia article, where the painting is treated as an example under the general heading of dance. The supplied excerpts do not document a present museum, collection or site for the painting, and no such location can be stated from this evidence. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: File usage on Commons; File usage on other wikis Claim ID: legacy-reference-reception-1. Evidence: reception. The file was published as part of Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Day 2025, and is used on the Polish Wikipedia article Taniec (obraz Henriego Matisse'a). Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Interpretations and debates Research section ID: interpretation. #### What the Evidence Identifies Claim ID: fact-012. Evidence: interpretation. The identification of the painting discussed here as The Dance, dated 1910 and attributed to Henri Matisse, rests entirely on the metadata of a Wikimedia Commons file. The file is titled The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg, is categorised under La Danse II by Henri Matisse, and its Structured Data records the depicted entity as 'Dance'. These are file-level designations rather than an institutional object record, and the excerpts drawn on here document no museum, collection or site for the painting, so no current location can be recorded from this source. The distinction matters because a file can name, date and license a photograph of a painting without supplying the kind of provenance, condition or display history that a catalogue entry or museum record would carry. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Whole file page Claim ID: archive-95564397e1d49492ea8c. Evidence: interpretation. The image in question is a photograph before it is a reproduction of a painting. Andrew Gatt took it on 7 July 2006, and the camera metadata records a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, exposure time 1/8 second, f-number 2.8, ISO speed 100, focal length 8 millimetres, captured on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. The uploaded file is 2,592 by 1,944 pixels, 1.48 megabytes, MIME type image/jpeg. The timing and settings imply a low-light indoor exposure rather than controlled documentation, which is relevant to how much visual detail the photograph can be relied on to carry, though the excerpts do not describe the depicted figures, action or composition of The Dance and no such details are asserted here. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Metadata; Whole file page #### Interpretation and Its Limits Claim ID: archive-7a8bf01f821b3a0807e8. Evidence: interpretation. Because the supplied record does not describe the depicted figures, action or composition of The Dance, and because no museum, collection or site is documented for the painting, the evidence supports claims about what the file calls the work and about the circumstances of the 2006 photograph, and no more. Any reading of what The Dance depicts, what it means, or how it should be understood within Matisse's practice would require a source that actually describes the painting. The evidence gathered here supplies an identification and a photographic trace, and it is in that documentary role, as a discovery aid rather than an object record, that the material is useful for further research. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Whole file page; File usage on Commons; File usage on other wikis Claim ID: legacy-reference-interpretation-1. Evidence: interpretation. The supplied excerpts do not describe the depicted figures, action or composition of The Dance, and no such details are asserted in this research bank. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Collection and display Research section ID: collection. #### The Record Behind the Identification Claim ID: fact-011. Evidence: documented. The only supplied record for the painting identified as The Dance is a Wikimedia Commons file page, and its evidentiary status shapes everything that can be said about the work's place in a collection. The file is titled The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg, which is what identifies the depicted painting as The Dance, dated 1910, and attributed to Henri Matisse; the same record files the work under the category La Danse II by Henri Matisse. These title and category strings are the sole basis in this research bank for the attribution, the title and the date, because the page is a discovery aid rather than an institutional object record. The page does not describe the painting's subject, composition, collection or provenance. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Whole file page Claim ID: fact-011-2. Evidence: documented. The image itself is a photograph before it is a reproduction of a painting. Andrew Gatt took the photograph on 7 July 2006, and the camera metadata preserves the moment: a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, exposure time 1/8 second, f-number 2.8, ISO speed 100, focal length 8 millimetres, captured on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. The original file is 2,592 by 1,944 pixels, 1.48 megabytes, MIME type image/jpeg. The page states that its own description shows, in the foreground, a figure named Alex admiring Music (1910), also by Matisse, so the photograph documents a viewing encounter in which one Matisse painting is seen while another hangs in the same space. Music appears in this record only as an object being looked at: it is named and dated, and nothing further is claimed for it here. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Whole file page #### Circulation and Licensing Claim ID: fact-011-3. Evidence: documented. The file's circulation history is documented in unusual detail, and it matters for assessing how the painting's identity has travelled. The photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence, and the file page states that the image was reviewed on 2 January 2025 by FlickreviewR 2 and confirmed as licensed under CC BY 2.0. The file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons on 2 January 2025 by El Nuevo Doge, using UploadWizard, from a Flickr source posted by Andrew Gatt, and it was published as part of Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Day 2025. The file is used on the Polish Wikipedia article Taniec (obraz Henriego Matisse'a), and its Structured Data records the depicted entity as 'Dance' with the creator name string recorded as Andrew Gatt. In that Structured Data the creator string refers to the photographer, not to the painter, a distinction worth keeping in view when the file is mined for art-historical data. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Whole file page Claim ID: fact-011-4. Evidence: interpretation. The limits of this record are as consequential as its contents. The supplied excerpts do not document a present museum, collection or site for the painting The Dance, so no current location can be recorded from this source, and the record carries no description of the depicted figures, the action or the composition of The Dance, with no such details asserted anywhere in this research bank. On this evidence the painting cannot be placed in a holding, a gallery or an owner's hands, and the work's collection history remains undescribed. What the file does establish is narrower but solid: a named painting, a date, an attribution resting on a file title and category, and a dated photograph through which that identification reaches the public. A researcher wanting the painting's subject, its physical setting or its provenance would have to work from a source that actually describes the work; the excerpts supplied here do not, and the difference between a licensed photograph of a painting and a documented object record is precisely the gap this account must preserve. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1]. Locator: Whole file page Claim ID: legacy-reference-collection-1. Evidence: collection. The supplied excerpts do not document a present museum, collection or site for the painting The Dance, and so no current location can be recorded from this source. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ### Documented values and qualified estimates Research section ID: values. #### The recorded range and its status Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance. Evidence: interpretation. The single object-specific evidence unit supplied for this section is not a museum valuation but a working insurance estimate generated on 2026-10-16. It records an estimated insurance range of US$150M to US$400M for the artwork identified by title as The Dance, a 1910 painting attributed to Henri Matisse, associated with France and categorised on its Wikimedia Commons file page under La Danse II by Henri Matisse. The document is explicit about what kind of number this is: a broad, conservative working range for manual review, not an appraisal, not an official insurance value, not an auction result, and not a sale price. Because the number will be quoted and reused, the qualifications travel with it rather than sitting apart from it. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Method and its limits Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance-2. Evidence: interpretation. The methodology recorded with the range explains how the figure was reached and why it is so wide. The calculation used only the supplied confirmed context, namely the identification of the work by title, its 1910 date, its attribution to Matisse, its association with France and its Commons categorisation. From that basis the estimate was derived conservatively from the very high insurance-market tier generally associated with major, widely recognised Matisse paintings, then adjusted downward for the identification uncertainty and for the absence of ownership, condition and provenance documentation. No comparable sales, auction results or private insurance records were accessed or inferred. The range is described as intentionally wide and as requiring manual review against authoritative provenance, condition and collection documentation before any coverage decision. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### What the underlying sources do not establish Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance-3. Evidence: interpretation. The document states plainly which categories of information about the painting itself the excerpts do not document: medium, dimensions, support, inscriptions, provenance, current collection, acquisition history, condition and exhibition record. It also notes that the underlying sources are Wikimedia Commons file-page records and do not constitute a museum object record or a public valuation. That gap is the reason the downward adjustment was applied rather than an incidental caveat. Reading the range without this list would overstate what the evidence can bear, since a valuation normally presupposes precisely the object documentation that is missing here. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Two kinds of record, two kinds of value Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance-4. Evidence: interpretation. The file page behind that identification paints a different picture of the object than a valuation file would. It is the page for a photograph by Andrew Gatt dated 7 July 2006, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons on 2 January 2025 by El Nuevo Doge using UploadWizard from a Flickr source posted by Gatt, and reviewed on 2 January 2025 by FlickreviewR 2, which confirmed the CC BY 2.0 licence. The original image is 2,592 by 1,944 pixels, 1.48 megabytes, MIME type image/jpeg. The camera metadata records a Konica Digital Camera KD-500Z, exposure time 1/8 second, f-number 2.8, ISO speed 100, focal length 8 millimetres, captured on 7 July 2006 at 03:09:05. The file was published as part of Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Day 2025 and is used on the Polish Wikipedia article Taniec (obraz Henriego Matisse'a). The Structured Data records the depicted entity as 'Dance' and the creator name string as Andrew Gatt. These are the demographics of an image file, not of a painting: rights status, capture parameters and upload history. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### What the file page does and does not say about the paintings Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance-5. Evidence: interpretation. Within that same file page, the painting appears under a title that names it The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse, with the Commons file categorised under La Danse II by Henri Matisse. The supporting source claims record that the file title identifies the depicted painting as The Dance, dated 1910, by Henri Matisse, and that the Commons categorisation places it under La Danse II. Those claims concern the painting, and it is worth noting that the title and the category preserve two different designations for what is presented as the same work. The file record also carries something about a second painting in the frame: the supplied claims note that the file record describes the image as showing, in the foreground, Alex admiring Music (1910), also by Matisse. Music therefore enters the record as a named and dated object being looked at, and the evidence claims state nothing further about it. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Why the recorded range is not a valuation of a located object Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance-6. Evidence: interpretation. Two absences in the file page bear directly on the meaning of the recorded range. The supplied excerpts do not document a present museum, collection or site for the painting The Dance, so no current location can be recorded from this source. And they do not describe the depicted figures, action or composition of The Dance, with the research bank asserting no such details. A valuation normally rests on an owned, located, condition-assessed object; the evidence here supports an identification and a date but not those further conditions. The consequence is that the US$150M to US$400M figure should be understood as a manual-review placeholder tied to a well-known Matisse title, not as a statement about a particular canvas currently held by a particular institution. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] #### Conditions of use Claim ID: valuation-calculated-insurance-7. Evidence: interpretation. The document closes by warning against reliance for binding insurance, tax, legal or transaction purposes and directing confirmation of all details with qualified professionals and authoritative records. It allows that the range may be materially inaccurate because the Commons excerpts verify neither medium, dimensions, condition, provenance nor current ownership. In effect, the record establishes its own scope of use: an artefact of a working calculation on a stated date, useful for flagging that a major Matisse title sits in a very high insurance tier, and unusable as evidence of what any particular owner should insure. Read together with the file page from which its context was drawn, the number is best treated as a note about market category attached to an identification, and the identification itself remains a file-page claim rather than an institutional object record. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] Claim ID: legacy-reference-values-1. Evidence: calculated_insurance. Calculated working insurance estimate, not a sale price: Estimated insurance range: US$150M to US$400M Recorded date: Working calculation, generated 2026-10-16. Methodology: This is a broad, conservative working range for manual review, not an appraisal. The calculation uses only the supplied confirmed context: the artwork is identified by title as The Dance, a 1910 painting attributed to Henri Matisse, associated with France and categorized on the Commons file page under La Danse II by Henri Matisse. The excerpts do not document medium, dimensions, support, inscriptions, provenance, current collection, acquisition history, condition, or exhibition record for the painting itself. Because the supplied sources are Wikimedia Commons file-page records and do not constitute a museum object record or a public valuation, the range is derived conservatively from the very high insurance-market tier generally associated with major, widely recognized Matisse paintings, adjusted downward for the identification uncertainty and lack of ownership, condition, and provenance documentation. No comparable sales, auction results, or private insurance records were accessed or inferred. The range is intentionally wide and should be reviewed manually against authoritative provenance, condition, and collection documentation before any coverage decision. Qualification: This is a model-generated working range for manual review only. It is not an official insurance value, an appraisal, an auction result, or a sale price. The supplied Wikimedia Commons file-page excerpts do not verify the artwork's medium, dimensions, condition, provenance, or current ownership, so the range may be materially inaccurate. Do not rely on it for binding insurance, tax, legal, or transaction purposes. Confirm all details with qualified professionals and authoritative records. Source IDs: source-1. - [Andrew Gatt, 2006](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg) [source-1] ## Books for further reading Amazon links are paid links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. ### Matisse Henri Matisse, 1977. Phaidon Catalogue record for a Matisse volume whose recorded subjects include his paintings, criticism and interpretation, themes and motives, and specific image categories such as women in art. The subject list indicates art-historical treatment of Matisse's painted imagery, which makes it the closest candidate to a study that could address works such as The Dance. Bibliography source ID: book-ol21408080m. ISBN: 0714818046 [Find book on Amazon.co.uk](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=0714818046&tag=artifactarchi-21) Cover provenance: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL21408080M ### Henri Matisse Henri Matisse, 1982. Abrams Multi-author exhibition catalogue on Henri Matisse with recorded subjects including criticism and interpretation, painting, modernism, and women in art. Its catalogue and exhibition subject terms point to scholarly, object-oriented discussion of Matisse's paintings rather than a general biography. Bibliography source ID: book-ol3491588m. ISBN: 0810953307 [Find book on Amazon.co.uk](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=0810953307&tag=artifactarchi-21) Cover provenance: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL3491588M ### Henri Matisse, 1869-1954: master of colour Volkmar Essers, 1993. Benedikt Taschen Monographic study of Matisse by Volkmar Essers, recorded with subjects including color in art, French painting, modern painting, and criticism and interpretation. The colour and interpretation subjects are relevant to a large Fauvist composition like The Dance, though the record does not confirm discussion of that specific canvas. Bibliography source ID: book-ol4015837m. ISBN: 3822896403 [Find book on Amazon.co.uk](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=3822896403&tag=artifactarchi-21) Cover provenance: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4015837M ## Sources and literature ### [source-1] Wikimedia Commons: The Dance Andrew Gatt (2006). Wikimedia Commons: The Dance. The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg. Wikimedia Commons. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg Publisher: Wikimedia Commons. Type: secondary. URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dance_(1910)_by_Henri_Matisse.jpg Authors / editors: Andrew Gatt. Publication year: 2006. Publication / journal: The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse.jpg Language: English Consultation status: partially_consulted. Access status: open_access. Relevance: artwork. Archive annotation: Wikimedia Commons file page for a 2006 photograph of a painting identified in the file title as The Dance (1910) by Henri Matisse. The page records the photographer, licence, image metadata, upload history and file usage. It is a discovery aid rather than an institutional object record and does not describe the painting's subject, composition, collection or provenance. ### [book-ol21408080m] Matisse Henri Matisse (1977). Matisse. Phaidon. ISBN: 0714818046. Available at: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL21408080M Publisher: Phaidon. Type: book. URL: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL21408080M Authors / editors: Henri Matisse. Publication year: 1977. ISBN: 0714818046 Consultation status: not_yet_consulted. Archive annotation: Catalogue record for a Matisse volume whose recorded subjects include his paintings, criticism and interpretation, themes and motives, and specific image categories such as women in art. The subject list indicates art-historical treatment of Matisse's painted imagery, which makes it the closest candidate to a study that could address works such as The Dance. ### [book-ol3491588m] Henri Matisse Henri Matisse (1982). Henri Matisse. Abrams. ISBN: 0810953307. Available at: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL3491588M Publisher: Abrams. Type: book. URL: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL3491588M Authors / editors: Henri Matisse. Publication year: 1982. ISBN: 0810953307 Consultation status: not_yet_consulted. Archive annotation: Multi-author exhibition catalogue on Henri Matisse with recorded subjects including criticism and interpretation, painting, modernism, and women in art. Its catalogue and exhibition subject terms point to scholarly, object-oriented discussion of Matisse's paintings rather than a general biography. ### [book-ol4015837m] Henri Matisse, 1869-1954: master of colour Volkmar Essers (1993). Henri Matisse, 1869-1954: master of colour. Benedikt Taschen. ISBN: 3822896403. Available at: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4015837M Publisher: Benedikt Taschen. Type: book. URL: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4015837M Authors / editors: Volkmar Essers. Publication year: 1993. ISBN: 3822896403 Consultation status: not_yet_consulted. Archive annotation: Monographic study of Matisse by Volkmar Essers, recorded with subjects including color in art, French painting, modern painting, and criticism and interpretation. The colour and interpretation subjects are relevant to a large Fauvist composition like The Dance, though the record does not confirm discussion of that specific canvas. ## Editorial note Published automatically by Artifact Archive. No human editorial review. ## Coverage and revisions Recorded scope: This record brings together the supplied object-specific evidence and literature. Its citations identify the sources supporting each account. Scope updated on: 2026-10-16 Bibliography entries held: 4. Literature coverage is accumulating. Finding or cataloguing a publication does not mean it has been consulted. A missing consultation status is not recorded. The record does not claim that all literature has been found. Editorial review date: 2026-10-16. ## Product range [Browse ArtifactArchive's current product range](https://www.artifact-archive.com/shop). [This artwork's editions and availability](https://www.artifact-archive.com/archive/the-dance-henri-matisse-1910#prints). 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