Seated Odalisque by Matisse in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2008

Seated Odalisque
1926

Object Details

Title: Seated Odalisque

Artist: Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice)

Date: 1926

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 28 3/4 x 23 5/8 in. (73 x 60 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Adele R. Levy Fund Inc., 1962

Accession Number: 62.112

Photographs taken of Matisse's studio during the mid-1920s show North African textiles draped over furniture, hanging on the walls, and rigged into makeshift theatrical sets that served as backdrops for his odalisque-costumed models. When interviewed about his Odalisque paintings, Matisse stressed that the fabrics "play a role equivalent to the female nude."


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/489223