Right hand

Comparison of the right hand of Back (III) and Back (IV) demonstrates how Matisse filled the area, nearly absorbing the form and leaving only the egg-shaped thumb in the final state of Back (IV). He also added material to the outside of the arm, creating a more gradual and harmonious transition from the figure to the ground.

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Matisse: Radical Invention 1913-1917
Bathers by a River
Back: 1908-09, 1911(?)-13, 1913-16, c. 1931
A Great French Painter, Henri Matisse: A film from 1946
Art Institute of Chicago
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