''The Piano Lesson'' depicts the living room of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

s home in

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

, with his younger son,

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, at the piano, the artist's sculpture ''Decorative Figure'' (1908), at bottom left, and, at upper right, his painting ''

Woman on a High Stool ''Woman on a High Stool'' (French: ''Femme au tabouret'', ''La femme assise'') is an oil painting on canvas by the French artist Henri Matisse from early 1914. It is a portrait of Germaine Raynal, the wife of the poet and art critic Maurice Ray ...

''. Matisse began with a naturalistic drawing, but he eliminated detail as he worked, scraping down areas and rebuilding them broad fields of color. The painting evokes a specific moment in time—light suddenly turned on in a darkening interior—by the triangle of shadow on the boy's face and the rhyming green triangle of light falling on the garden. The artist's incising on the window frame and stippling on the left side produce a pitted quality that suggests the eroding effects of light or time, a theme reiterated by the presence of the metronome and burning candle on the piano. This painting, ''The Moroccans'' (1915), and ''

Bathers by a River ''Bathers by a River'' (french: Les Demoiselles à la rivière), also known as ''Bathers at the River'' and occasionally referred to as simply ''Bathers'', is a large 1917 oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Henri Matisse. Matisse began pain ...

'' (1909–10, May–November 1913, and early spring 1916–October (?) 1917) were all painted at the time of the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

References

1916 paintings Paintings by Henri Matisse Musical instruments in art Paintings in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) {{20C-painting-stub

See also

References