Still Life with Pascal’s Pensées

Henri Matisse

1924

Oil on canvas

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A still life painting depicts a vase of colorful anemones on a table next to a cup of coffee and a book. A window with patterned curtains is visible in the background. A still life painting depicts a vase of colorful anemones on a table next to a cup of coffee and a book. A window with patterned curtains is visible in the background. If Matisse’s still-life paintings from his early years in Nice are less abstract than those produced prior to and during World War I, they are more evocative. In fact, still-life became the perfect vehicle enabling Matisse to explore the role of ornament in his paintings as well as the wider role of decorative design central to Matisse’s painting at this time. Still Life with Pascal’s Pensées relates to several pictures that represent a section or corner of a room in