Alvin Langdon Coburn: Henri Matisse, 1913 – Porcelain Art Mug

Alvin Langdon Coburn photographed Henri Matisse on 13 May 1913 for Men of Mark, his search for the defining figures of the age. The portrait shows the watchful, slightly guarded intensity that Matisse presented in public. Behind it was a man who had staked everything on colour, and had accepted poverty, ridicule and incomprehension rather than retreat to the safety of academic convention.

By 1913 Matisse (1869–1954) had survived the critical storms over Fauvism, had spent years in dialogue and rivalry with Picasso, and was in the process of transforming colour from description into pure sensation. Coburn was himself a pioneering modernist, one of the first photographers to pursue abstraction as a serious artistic ambition. The words that give this piece its name — Creativity takes courage — are among the most quoted credos attached to Matisse; set beside this portrait they read less as a slogan than as a description of what the man in the picture had already done.

Fine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. The image runs around the body; handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

Photograph: Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882–1966), Henri Matisse, photogravure, negative 13 May 1913, print 1913.

Selected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.