A Series — Las Odaliscas by Henri Matisse (1920-1927)
This painting is from a larger series of six paintings Matisse created called Las Odaliscas, which are 19th-century virgin female slave figures.
The paintings show his interest in Muslim decorative arts and his fascination with the nude female.
He once said: “I do odalisques in order to do nudes…”
Clearly the little girl is not portraying Matisse’s true intentions with Las Odaliscas, but rather emulating the woman’s feelings and posture.
