In 1905, when Henri Matisse and his fellow Fauves (“wild beasts”) exhibited together at the Salon d’Automne, the room came alive with vibrant colors. Indeed, the critic Louis Vauxcelles described it as an “orgy of pure tones.” Though Matisse’s celebrated still lifes are at the heart of his oeuvre, the artist also spent much time studying the human body. He cast these studies into remarkable sculptures, reminiscent of work by his contemporary Auguste Rodin, but less polished. “Sculpture,” Matisse said, “helped me in my painting. It was always in view of a complete possession of my mind, a sort of hierarchy of all my sensations, that I kept working in the hope of finding an ultimate method.” —Elena Clavarino