"Conversation under the Olive Trees" is an exquisite painting by Henri Matisse who is known for both his use of color and his fluid and original draughtsman-ship.
Beneath their tranquil surface, Matisse's paintings often conceal a complex discourse expressing his conflicting aspirations through the relationship between subject and style. Conversation under the Olive Trees is particularly revealing in this respect. Two elegant ladies standing on the lawn seem to be chatting. Behind them is a path; on the far side and slightly lower, we see a grove of olive-trees, while further away appears the silhouette of a hill, and beyond it another. The canvas was painted directly from nature in 1921, in the countryside around Nice. The title, which refers to olive trees, and the open sunshade of one of the young ladies speak to us of the south and sun.
