Tip: move over the painting to use the lens.

Woman before an Aquarium

Henri Matisse · 1921–23

Artist: Henri Matisse French, 1869–1954
Date: 1921–23
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 81.2 × 100.2 cm (31 15/16 × 39 7/16 in.)
Made in: France
Where to see it: Art Institute of Chicago

Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection · CC0 Public Domain · Art Institute of Chicago · image via Wikimedia Commons · see it at the museum ↗

Notes from the museum

In the first two decades of the 20th century, Henri Matisse visited exhibitions of Islamic art and traveled to Algeria and Morocco, where he collected pottery, textiles, and tiles. Years later while living in Nice, France, Matisse reflected on these experiences, integrating visual elements he encountered, such as the patterned textile screen, into his paintings. In Woman before an Aquarium , the carefully subdued decorative pattern of the screen contributes to the psychologically rich, contemplative mood of this interior scene.

Text: Art Institute of Chicago (open access). Our full story for this work is coming soon.

Slow Look

The whole picture Let your eyes wander. Where do they want to rest?
The light Find the brightest spot. What is it showing you?
The edges Look at what is half cut off at the borders.
One small detail Choose one tiny thing and stay with it for a while.
The whole picture again Step back. Has it changed for you?

About Henri Matisse

Henri Émile Benoît Matisse was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter.

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