Apart from the title and the elegant arabesque pattern of the screen, nothing else remains of the “Moorish” impressions Matisse received during his travels to Algeria in 1906 and Morocco in 1912-13. The memory of his brief Cubist experience in 1916-17 (such as his “Piano Lesson”) has also disappeared. This painting belongs to the period of sensual and decorative intimacy, his period of “odalisques”, nudes, portraits of women, and salons. The two girls are bathed in the bright light of a summer afternoon, set in a dreamy, lyrical atmosphere which has miraculously remained intact, untouched by any turbulent passion or pain.
Postcards Etc 