# Woman before an Aquarium

- By: Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954)
- Date: 1921–23
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 81.2 × 100.2 cm (31 15/16 × 39 7/16 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27984)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0e36029-27fc-bf4e-357a-55cfbaf7bdfd/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In the first two decades of the 20th century, Henri Matisse visited exhibitions of Islamic art and traveled to Algeria and Morocco, where he collected pottery, textiles, and tiles. Years later while living in Nice, France, Matisse reflected on these experiences, integrating visual elements he encountered, such as the patterned textile screen, into his paintings. In Woman before an Aquarium, the carefully subdued decorative pattern of the screen contributes to the psychologically rich, contemplative mood of this interior scene.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0