Reclining Odalisque (Nu étendu)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Reclining Odalisque involves a deliberate tension between the sculptural quality of the figure and the geometric ground. The volumes of the figure's body are almost literally built up with the palette knife. The space around her sofa, though, is composed of a gray-and-green grid and a bright orange triangle with a purple hypotenuse. These forms differentiate this odalisque from others that Matisse painted in 1927–28, all of which pose in settings decorated with curvilinear arabesques.

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