Matisse: The Thousand and One Nights

Matisse was 81 when he created the colorful and exuberant The Thousand and One Nights of 1950, with its fanciful magic lamps, dancing plant forms, and hearts. The design of this work was inspired by Scheherazade, the narrator of the Arabian Nights, a centuries-old Middle Eastern epic tale. The large paper cutout in the museum’s collection is a visitor favorite, but because of its fragile nature it can only be on view for a limited time.