Henri Matisse
(1869-1954)
Nu mi-allongé, bras replies vers les yeux
Litografía en papel japonés suave
43.5 x 245 cms
The British Museum
1949.0411.3348
Rather than creating traditional images of the nude, Matisse preferred to express female anatomy and movement through simple elegant lines and shapes. Without being realistic this abstraction encapsulates a body of ideas and feelings about female sexuality. The capacity to do this requires a modern visual brain that is evident in European art since fully modern people settled in Europe just over 40,000 years ago. Although simple in expression such stylized images imaginative ingenuity, as well as the intellectual ability to experiment with shapes and volumes to communicate complex relationships, feelings and expressions that are in no sense primitive.
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