Henri Matisse — Odalisque in Red Trousers

Another work from Matisse's Nice years built around the odalisque theme. The reclining woman has one arm raised above her head—a pose Matisse returned to often, since it shows the body's curves to good effect. A flower-patterned folding screen against the wall completes the orientalist atmosphere that Western audiences associated with the subject. Matisse had traveled through Morocco and Algeria before painting this, and his deep fascination with orientalism from that trip comes through clearly here.