The garish spotting of the colours, themselves tending towards acidity, and the sullied purity of the contrasts might be interpreted as the artist’s own comment on this set-piece of elegance pained in the German-occupied France of 1943. Underneath the shininess of the oil, the blue and red of the wall turn sombre, and the faded look of the tans makes the brighter colours strident. The feeling in this picture is uneasy, unreconciled with itself- as so often in these years whenMatissecontinued to insist on treating the human model as but one more in a collection of inert objects.

Yet beyond the colour an exactly sensed and beautifully tightened piece of drawing and design is revealed. The parallel sets of planes slanting form right to left all the way across the canvas create depth and at the same time keep some order among the many small spots of colour. Nevertheless, this does not altogether succeed in suppressing a certain jumpiness or clutter.