1926, Henri Matisse, Odalisque with Tambourine -- Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
From the museum label: In the 1920s, Matisse settled in Nice, the epicenter of the silent-film industry in France. Perhaps inspired by such local productions as La sultane de l'amour (1919), the painter began staging orientalist scenes in his seafront studio using an ever-changing assortment of decorative wall hangings, rugs, and costumes. Over the next eight years, Matisse devoted himself to the theme of the odalisque, basing the majority of these compositions on a model and former dancer named Henriette Darricarrère, who was working as a film extra when she first met the artist. Odalisque with Tambourine (Harmony in Blue) evidences Matisse's creative collaboration with Darricarrère, as the model's upraised arms and the round red form of the tambourine reiterate the decorative x's and o's of the North African textile behind her.
1926, Henri Matisse, Odalisque with Tambourine -- Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
From the museum label: In the 1920s, Matisse settled in Nice, the epicenter of the silent-film industry in France. Perhaps inspired by such local productions as La sultane de l'amour (1919), the painter began staging orientalist scenes in his seafront studio using an ever-changing assortment of decorative wall hangings, rugs, and costumes. Over the next eight years, Matisse devoted himself to the theme of the odalisque, basing the majority of these compositions on a model and former dancer named Henriette Darricarrère, who was working as a film extra when she first met the artist. Odalisque with Tambourine (Harmony in Blue) evidences Matisse's creative collaboration with Darricarrère, as the model's upraised arms and the round red form of the tambourine reiterate the decorative x's and o's of the North African textile behind her.