Woman with Still Life

Henri Matisse

1944

Pen and black ink

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A line drawing depicts a woman seated behind a table laden with a still life arrangement. The composition includes a pitcher, fruit in a bowl, and a vase of flowers. A line drawing depicts a woman seated behind a table laden with a still life arrangement. The composition includes a pitcher, fruit in a bowl, and a vase of flowers. Henri Matisse once told his students, “One must always search for the desire of the line, where it wishes to enter or where to die away.” The very spare outline technique typical of his ink drawings is much in evidence in Woman with Still Life, whose lines are fluent but, despite the seemingly simple subject matter, not facile. In Matisse’s mind these lines were conscious, probing, and full of intent. Their quavering quality seems to invite us in, guiding us to retrace