Abstract
Compared with Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), the subject of so much commentary, none of Matisse's famous masterpieces has been given intensive, close discussion. It is surprising that Luxe, calme et volupte (1904—1905), a puzzle picture, has not been more analyzed—its iconography is highly complex and the composition difficult to grasp. Barr observed that the artist copied related com positions in the Louvre, noted that although Matisse's scene is doubtlessly imaginary it is strictly contemporary, not arcadian, and connected the painting with Manet's art and Baudelaire's poetry.2 In 1986, Flam's magnificent detailed discus sion developed these ideas (pp. 114-121).3 The next decisive step was taken by Elderfield, who in 1992 interpreted Luxe, calme et volupte as a dreamlike image in which the unreal nudes exist only in the eyes of the child, bringing together Baudelaire on naivete and Lacan on self
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