Dome

Detail, figure; Painted in Nice and exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries in June 1926. The original title of the work, as it was reinstated by Mrs. Duthuit 1976, presents an enigma: it is the figure which is described here as decorative (the background is ornamental). Meyer Schapiro, in a particularly thorough and penetrating analysis of this work, has distinguished about "half a dozen large decorative units" in the background: the hangings with large blue patterns, among which is the Venetian mirror, likened to a pattern and enclosing the same blue; the Chinese porcelain pot; the carpet strips; and in the lower right, a rectangle which seems to be an upholstery covered seat. The figure juxtaposed against this is strongly volumetric and sculptural; Matisse forces these elements to coexist. Source: Centre Pompidou [website]; http://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ (accessed 7/17/2015)