Frau in Blau

By 1937 Matisse was in his late 60s and rarely left his rooms in Nice, where a young Russian emigree named Lydia Delectorskaya ran his studio and sat for most of what he painted. The blue outfit here was her own idea, a ruffled silk bodice with lace edging and a matching skirt, kept in the studio only for posing. Photographs taken while he worked show how far he pulled the picture away from life. He began with a relaxed, fairly realistic pose, then swelled the skirt and sleeves, straightened her back, and let the flat blue shapes take over from the woman inside them. Sprigs of mimosa sit to either side. Matisse thought it the best thing he painted that year.