# @sfmoma on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DZqGKP4PMY8
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/66836685-sfmoma-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/b1e81ac5c7.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-16T19:03:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** SFMOMA (@sfmoma) — https://gondola.cc/sfmoma

## Caption

If Mickalene Thomas’s monumental portrait reminds you of Henri Matisse’s “Femme au chapeau,” you’re onto something. 🔍✨

With its bold color and dramatic hat, “Qusuquzah, une très belle négresse 1” (Qusuquzah, A Very Beautiful Black Woman 1) echoes the masterpiece that shocked Paris in 1905.

Thomas draws on the legacy of Matisse (and Édouard Manet)—through heightened color, glamour, and the confident presence of a sitter who meets our gaze head-on, she transforms the conventions of modern portraiture.

The connection extends beyond the canvas: In 2025-26, Thomas made history as the first African American woman to be featured in a major solo exhibition at the Grand Palais, where “Femme au chapeau” made its debut 120 years prior.

See this rhinestone-studded portrait as part of the must-see exhibition of the summer, “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal.” 

—
Mickalene Thomas, “Qusuquzah, une très belle négresse 1” (Qusuquzah, A Very Beautiful Black Woman 1), 2011; © Mickalene Thomas / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

#SanFrancisco #Matisse #SFMOMA #Portraiture

## Stats

- **Views:** 7,644
- **Likes:** 372
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 10

## Tags

matisse, portraiture, sanfrancisco, sfmoma

---
Copyright (c) Gondola