the works Matisse produced between late 1913 and 1917 are among
his most demanding, experimental, and enigmatic. While these works
have typically been seen as unrelated responses to the influences of
Cubism and World War I, this exhibition illustrates the deep connections
between them and their critical role in an ambitious, cohesive project
of developing what Matisse called “the methods of modern construction”—
a process in which the act of creation itself was the main focus.
