One of the most influential artists of the modern era, Matisse spearheaded the early twentieth-century movement known as Fauvism, which focused on a subjective use of color and form to express the inner feelings of the artist. Here the overall sketchlike quality conveys a relaxed mood appropriate for a Mediterranean subject. This picture was painted in Nice, where Matisse was attracted to the intensity of the light. The luminosity results primarily from applying the paint very thinly over a white ground, much of which is still visible. The artist's interest in decorative patterns is seen in the tile floor, balustrade, rippled sea, and distant foliage. Counterbalancing any sense of depth in the work, these freely rendered patterns serve to draw attention to the expressive nature of Matisse's art.

-JAW