An original painting, signed Henri Matisse upper left corner. Verification has been done on the painting, which is very similar to his earliest works, believed to have been painted between 1891 and 1896. The reports indicate that this painting is 'very probable' to have been done by Henri Matisse. We have also taken the initiative to obtain various reports to authenticate the painting, but cannot guarantee its authenticity.

1) Issues and Legal Obstacles to Painting Certification

2) Signature Authentication

3) Signature Verification Signed in Upper Left Corner of Painting

4) Ultraviolet Light test

5) Similarities to a Certified Matisse Painting in Paint Applied to the Back of the Canvas

6) X-Ray of Painting

7) Probable Location Painted by Henri Matisse Identified

8) Similarities with Other Paintings done by Henri Matisse regarding Building, Window and Roof Shapes

9) Early Henri Matisse Paintings

10) Painting Style and Brush Strokes


"Based on all of the above testing, nothing has been found that would lead one to believe that the painting is not an original Henri Matisse Painting. As has been stated by some very experienced art experts, “ it doesn’t make any sense that a forger would paint this as a Henri Matisse rather than what he was famous for.” This is actually a very logical and significant statement as even experts who aren’t willing to give the painting their certification for legal and liability reasons, still feel it makes more sense that it is real."

Signature Analysis: "A certified company called CCHA – Canadian Centre for Handwriting Analysis was hired to do a handwriting analysis of the Henri Matisse signature on the painting being authenticated. They were contracted on April 15, 2023 to do the analysis and issued a report on April 26, 2023 in regards to the analysis of the signature. The full report is attached available, but in their expert opinion after a very through analysis they concluded that it is highly probable that the signature of Henri Matisse on the painting was executed by Henri Matisse. Some of the paintings that he signed in the upper left corner are:

1) Blue Pot and Lemon from 1897

2) Still Life with Oranges circa 1899
Both of these above paintings were painted in and around the time frame that we feel our painting was painted so in that perspective it is highly reasonable to believe that it could have been Henri Matisse that signed our painting in the Upper Left Corner. There is certainly no evidence to believe it was not him signing in the Upper Left Corner."

Ultraviolet Light Test: The use of UV light is commonly used to identify the authenticity of works of art or to inspect damaged or repaired paintings. Longwave ultraviolet light helps to detect overpainting, repairs and forged signatures that are normally invisible to the naked eye. The slightest alteration will stand out with extreme clarity under UV light.
Due to the different chemical properties, modern paint will fluoresce or glow under UV, while older paints will not. It can therefore be determined whether a painted object is an antique or a newer reproduction. UV can also be used to identify whether a painting has been repaired and if so, how extensive was the repair.
A piece of art can be easily scanned with a hand-held UV lamp in a dark room. If there are dark blotches, they indicate over painting and over cleaning. Bluish-white spots indicate the presence of lining compound, dark bluish-violet indicates picture repair, and very small blue dots are dust. A chartreuse haze indicates old varnish, which shows that no recent restoration work has been done.
The UV test was conducted on May 10, 2023, and the painting was gone over in detail with a UV light both on the front and the back. No irregularities or fluorescence was found with the paint on either the front or the back leaving us with the decision that the paint and signature were all original and hadn’t been tampered with in any way.

Similarities to a Certified Matisse Painting in Paint Applied to the Back of the Canvas

One very interesting thing about our Henri Matisse signed painting is that the back of the canvas has also been painted. We originally thought it might have been done to slow down the drying on the front side of the canvas where a thicker coat of paint had been used for the painting. During our research, we found a certified painting by Henri Matisse that was called Le pont Saint Michel, Paris circa 1895 that was also unique in that paint had been applied to the back of that Henri Matisse painting as well. Some felt that it may have been done to determine initial paint use. It is significant to note that the date of this painting again matches with our painting and the similarities in using the back of the canvas for painting.
This again shows the uniqueness of this Henri Matisse painting and its connection and verification to properties similar with other certified Henri Matisse paintings.

X-Ray of Painting

An X-Ray of the painting was done by Barrie Animal Hospital on May 17th, 2023 to conduct a radiograph series of X-Rays on our Henri Matisse painting.
They used a Fixed X-ray machine which was a Vet-Ray Technology (by Sedecal) Standard Vet Model. The images were taken using chest or canine thorax setting as had been recommended by art experts.
There were a total of 4 images taken. One taken for each of the top left, the top right, the bottom left and the bottom right. This allowed us to cover all of the painting with the 4 X-rays.
On the two top X-rays, the wire at the back of the painting was visible. Other than that, nothing showed other than the original Henri Matisse painting that was on the canvas. Nothing else was painted in the background or on the canvas.
The X-ray test showed that there were no issues in regards to the possible authenticity of our Henri Matisse painting.

Probable Location Painted by Henri Matisse Identified

Extensive research and investigation was done in regards to the areas that Henri Matisse travelled to and painted at various times. Some of this information was collected from other certified Henri Matisse paintings where there was background information. From that information, we were able to determine that one of his regular and favourite spots to paint was in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Nice. Henri Matisse painted a number of paintings in this area over his career.
This area has been a famous spot to paint for many artists over the years. Each artist has their own painter’s eye in what they see and then put to canvas. It is this perspective that makes what each painter does special in their own way. Henri Matisse himself would have looked at this scene and fashioned his own perception of what he saw. The important part is looking at the layout and overall setting of the painting in relation to the actual location. Look at the background hills, the trees, the buildings and you can see what he was seeing.
We have included a number of photos of the area that depict what we feel Henri Matisse was looking at when he did this painting. This would have been done very early in his career when he was still focusing on landscapes and still life’s in earth tones. The other thing you will find in the next verification section is the many similarities in buildings, roofs and windows that are found in other Henri Matisse paintings over the years.
Some of the photos included have been cropped to highlight the exact view that Henri Matisse would have been looking at when the painting was done.
Based on what we have found we feel strongly that this painting was done in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Nice.

As part of our investigation, we looked at other paintings done by Henri Matisse that had similarities to our Painting. In regards to Building Shape, Windows and the Roofs, a number of paintings done by Henri Matisse over the years all showed some similarities in regards to certain aspects of the paintings.
Some of those paintings by Henri Matisse are:

1) Landscape- Autumn in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Circa 1918:

2) Collioure en Aout, circa 1911:

3) Saint Tropez 1904:

These paintings were done at different times and in different locations, but the important thing to note is how Henri Matisse would draw the building and window shapes along with the special way he rounded his roofs. This seems to be part of his style and how he viewed these things in his painter’s eye.

Early Henri Matisse Paintings

Painting Style and Brush Strokes

The investigation into painting style and brush strokes for Henri Matisse paintings in his early years was made difficult due to the lack of comparisons to be found. There is very limited information on the paintings that Henri Matisse did prior to 1900 and especially prior to 1895 during his first 5 years of beginning to paint.
What we did find though is a number of paintings done in the period around 1895 to 1897 that all were done in the earth tones he was known to be painting during the early part of his career where he focused on landscapes and still life.
The brush strokes in these earlier paintings were also very different to his later paintings and are more similar to his brush stroke technique used in our painting.
Image: 34" x 22". Frame:


Oakwood Auctions cannot be held liable for this painting's authenticity, in any regard. Prior to bidding, please request any documentation, and bid accordingly based on that documentation, and the photos provided. We have taken every step we can to obtain arm's length, third party verified documentation for the piece, but this is to be sold AS IS.