Planches de couleurs par Skira: Woman in an easychair

Matisse could hardly remain indifferent to the experiments of the Cubists, and these spurred him on to an ever more intense and rigorous simplification of forms. Concern for the subject gave way to a single-minded concern for the structural virtues of the canvas, whose every element took its destined place in a compact organizational scheme, enhanced by juxtapositions of contrasting colors. “I aim at the density and economy that make a good picture.” he explained. Intense and pungent, his colors still strike an equable balance and suggest composure within a stark, almost rugged system of forms.