Henri Matisse

Among all the subjects in Matisse's oeuvre, the odalisque is his best known and most beloved.  The allure of this exotic figure, often depicted in various states of nudity, was of insatiable appeal to the artist.  Throughout his career, Matisse devoted several compositions to images of this paradigm of female sensuality, depicting her seated in a richly upholstered armchair or reclining on a bed.  In this drawing from 1942, he has rendered his subject wearing an exotic head scarf typical in his odalisque series.  Fascinated with textile patterns of the Orient, Matisse is able to incorporate his aesthetic predilections in this exquisite drawing.

Matisse often spoke of how the act of drawing was integral to his approach to oil painting, but it is important to realize that his compositions in pen and ink are complete works in their own right.  Ernst Gerhard Güse has written, "There is nothing provisional about his drawings: they are complete, finished works, resulting from an extended process of identification.  The line which encircles the objects supplied a final, conclusive definition.  Through the connection between the line and the artist's emotions, his inner life, the drawing becomes an act of assimilation, taking possession of nature" (Ernst Gerhard Güse, Matisse, Drawings and Sculpture, Munich, 1991, p. 10).