FAQ
Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954). Nude in a Wood, 1906. Oil on panel, 16 x 12 3/4 in. (40.64 x 32.38 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of George F. Of, 52.150
Mixing expanses of prepared but unpainted panel with patches and arabesques of orange, pink, green, mauve, and violet pigments, Matisse thoroughly integrates a seated female figure (his wife) into a landscape whose space remains largely undefined. Despite the radicality of the technique and palette, Matisse's subject matter—the coexistence of humankind and nature—harks back to the long-standing tradition of the pastoral landscape and its evocation of timeless harmony. Matisse painted this work at a transitional moment in the development of his aesthetic, as he moved from pointillism, with its regularized touches of paint, to the primacy of line and flat color.
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum