Danseuse Couchee

Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954

Summary

What is striking about this depiction of a reclining woman is the simplicity of the format and the bold manner in which she is represented. There are no other details in the scene apart from the body of the woman, which stretches horizontally across the scene with her feet in the bottom left and her head in the top right, and there is no sense of recession. The line-work especially is a distinctive feature; it is very bold, using soft but thick black lines and handled freely and loosely so that the print appears sketchy. This is particularly evident in the representation of the flowered tutu the woman is wearing; the flower pattern is alluded to through sketchy, almost child-like forms and the multiple folds of her skirt are a series of freely drawn lines and shading. The dress is made more visible by the position the woman holds, as she lies looking upwards with her arms behind her head. As her hair falls down off her face it is more displayed for the viewer who sees it from a three-quarter angle.