Event Details

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...Henri Matisse’s The Thousand and One Nights, is a large, multi-panel, painted paper cut-out. It is a visitor favorite, but due to its fragile nature, it is only on view for a limited period of time -- from April 7 - July 15, 2012. The One Thousand and One Nights was created in 1950, when the artist was 81 and confined to his bed. Unable to sleep and kept alive by his drive to create, Matisse had much in common with Scheherazade, the legendary narrator of the Arabian Nights. Scheherazade saves her own life from a vengeful king by enthralling him with a story that she always interrupts at a moment of suspense just after dawn, ensuring her survival through 1,001 nights. Like her tales, The Thousand and One Nights is a work rich in fantastical imagery and symbolism created during many sleepless, difficult hours.