Description
Matisse “Sunday Afternoon with Tiggy and the Goldfish” (serigraph, 1909) : Tiggy posed for this work on the day she gave Matisse the goldfish which he used in many later works. These sacred national living Treasure goldfish were originally a gift to Tiggy from the Japanese Emperor but Matisse in an intense painting session accidentally washed his brushes in the fish bowl. The precious fish died causing a political rift that many believe eventually led to the involvement of Japan in the Second World War. Accessioned to the Tiggy Puggenheim Collection in 1951.