In order to create highly decorative compositions, the Modern painter Henri Matisse often adjusted forms and colors so they did not match reality. Many of his works are saturated with joyous hues and lively patterns, as is the case with Yellow Roses with Cage of Parakeets. Matisse once proclaimed that art should be devoid of depressing subject matter: " something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue."

1924, Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 in. x 28 3/4 in.
Gift of Ferdinand Howald
(c) 2002 Succession H. Matisse, Paris / Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York

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