The Unfinished Dance

/ Henri Matisse /

 

The Unfinished Dance (1931) and The Dance of Paris (1931-1933) comprise two of the three versions of the mural commissioned from Matisse in 1930 by Doctor Albert C. Barnes for his foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. Abandoning traditional oil on canvas, he invented the new technique of using coloured paper cut-outs to put the finishing touches to his work.

Buren’s Wall of Paintings has been installed opposite it. The apse houses alternating thematic or monographic displays of works from the Henry-Thomas collection as a tribute to these two major donors.