“Of all the great masterpieces of early 20th-century art, Henri Matisse’s ‘Bathers with a Turtle’ remains, I think, the strangest,” wrote a Washington Post critic in 2020. The piece has been a focal point at the Museum since it entered the collection in 1964.
Before taking center stage in SLAM's current exhibition, Matisse and the Sea, the painting underwent an exploratory investigation with SLAM's conservation department. This SLAM in 60 scrapes the surface of what lies beneath one of Matisse's most iconic works.
Take a closer look at Bathers with a Turtle alongside many other of Matisse's works in Matisse and the Sea, on view now until May 12.