Matisse in Morocco (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990-ꦯ91, fig. 8🐲7, illustrated p. 149

Though the present drawing dates from 1951, the costume of the seated woman in this work recalls the draped figures of Zorah or Fatma women whom Matisse depicted in his voyages to Morroco in 1912 and 1913. The artist traveled extensively to many destinations in search of creative inspiration, but his trips to Morocco had a notably profound effect on him. The lush foliage and richly decorated fabrics appealed to his masterful eye. Jack Cowart writes, "After Morocco, Matisse was a more private, internalized artist as he considered subject matter sources. Yet it must also be said that from 1913 to his last works Henri Matisse was always "returning" to Morocco. . . . Edith Wharton grasped an essential quality of the place when she wrote in 1920: 'To touch the past with one's hands is realized only in dreams; and in Morocco the dream feeling envelops one at every step. . . .' And until he departed the earth, Matisse never left the many special qualities and impressions so enthusiastically gathered during his Moroccan period, as he pursued the search for his artistic self through the exploration of various motifs" (Jack Cowart, "Matisse's Moroccan Sketchbooks and Drawings: Self-Discovery through Various Motifs", Matisse in Morocco (e🔴xhibition catalogue), Washington, D.C., 1990, p. 159).

In Deux femmes, Matisse turns to the simplified medium of drawing which he valued for its more direct translation of emotion. He believed that his drawings were a means of expressing the intimate feelings of those whom he depicted. Instead of merely studies, Matisse viewed his drawings as whole works. The medium allowed him to consider, as he said himself, "... the character of the model, the human expression, the quality of the surrounding light, atmosphere and all that can only be expressed by drawing." (as quoted in ed. Jack Flam, Matisse, A Retrospective, New York, 1988, p. 327)

Fig. Henri Matisse, Autoportrait, 1916, pen and ink on paper, Private Collection