The theme of a reclining nude on a background intrigued Matisse throughout his life. For this work, he used his characteristic technique of simplifying and generalizing the background, where he used just lilac, green, and black colors. There is no ornamentation except for four big flowers scratched out on the black oil. The figure of the model looks monumental despite the small size of the painting. ‘It is important to be able to convey a large scale even in a small painting, as our eyes perceive objects in their full size’, Matisse said while working on this painting, which was created in Paris between May 21 and July 31, 1936. Almost immediately after completion, it was purchased by Lidiya Delektorskaya, who gave it to the Museum in 1997.