Henri Matisse's Great Leap Forward

The Piano Lesson, 1916
A record of the living room of the artist's house at Issy showing his youngest son Pierre practicing the piano, The Piano Lesson balances an abstract composition with a series of very specific objects. The candle and metronome standing on the piano's rose-colored cloth evoke the measuring of time; the scrollwork on the piano stand continues the grillwork of the window, the two of them combining to flow across the room like music; the figure in the lower left is the artist's own sculpture, Decorative Figure made in 1908. Pierre has said that his father reworked elements in the painting several times, and the final result is a combination of what was intended and what was accidental.

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