Henri Matisse Paintings at Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

5 October 2017 · Paris

Two Henri Matisse paintings hang on a white gallery wall at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. The larger canvas on the right shows a seated nude figure at an open balcony window, a Parisian streetscape visible beyond the ironwork railing, a gilded mirror and a second figure reflected in the dark interior. The smaller painting to the left renders a night-time view through a window, deep blue tones and a city boulevard receding into the distance. Together they show Matisse returning to the same problem — the room as a frame for the world outside — and arriving at two different answers.