Henri Matisse — Nude with a Drape

Another entry in Matisse's Nice-era Odalisque series, this canvas keeps its background unusually spare. As the title suggests, Matisse wanted nothing to distract from the woman's body itself. Her pose is one he returned to often—hardly comfortable to hold for long, given the strain it puts on the lower back, but ideal for showing off the body's curves. Her blank expression echoes the African masks Matisse was collecting around this time.