Seated Nude

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This small canvas belongs to a series of nude figures in wooded landscapes that Matisse made during the summer of 1906, his second summer at Collioure, a town on the Mediterranean coast of France. Traditionally, artists depicting human figures sought to create the illusion of volume through the use of light and shade. Yet Matisse completely departs from that convention here. The body is composed of flat patches of clashing color; its edges are jagged or altogether absent.

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