Grande odalisque à la culotte bayadère is Matisse's most elaborate depiction of his favorite model, Henriette Darricarrère, here in the guise of an odalisque. The most immediate attraction of this this extraordinary lithograph lies in the juxtaposition of the bold stripes of her culottes with the sinuous flower-pattern of the armchair. Yet in this, the most detailed and complex of his mature printed works, Matisse's interest goes beyond the contrast of patterns, as he explores the play of light on a variety of textures and surfaces: the model's skin, the silky fabric of her clothing and the heavy cloth of the upholstered armchair. Another - compositional - problem that fascinated him was the pose of the seated model, with one leg raised and the foot tucked under the other leg, an arrangement he repeated in several paintings and lithographs at the time.
Matisse explained his attitude to his models in an article on drawing:
'They are the principal theme in my work. I depend entirely on my model whom I observe at liberty, and then I decide on the pose which best suits her nature. When I take a new model, it is in complete relaxation that I can see the pose that will best suit her, and to which I am then completely committed [...] Their forms are not always perfect, but they are always expressive. The emotional interest they inspire in me is not especially apparent in the representation of their bodies, but rather in the lines or particular values distributed over the whole canvas or paper, thus forming their orchestration, their architecture.' (H. Matisse, Notes d'un peintre sur son dessin, quoted in: Susan Lambert, 'Matisse Lithographs', Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1972).
The entry of Henriette, of whom little is known, into Matisse's artistic life was of great significance. She served as his primary model throughout most of the 1920's, and came to embody the artist's Niçoise paintings and prints between 1920 and 1927. The artistic chemistry between these two personalities had a profound effect on the work that Matisse created during these seven years, as her skilful role-playing and theatrical presence provoked an evolution in his art. Although Matisse had begun exploring the odalisque-theme with other models, the fantasy reached its pinnacle with Henriette as its inspiration. She seemed to have the ability to move from one role to another without ever losing her own presence and distinctive features, which Matisse here imbues with an almost sphynx-like inscrutability. Matisse often stated that the aim of his art was to create an atmosphere of luxe, calme et volupté, which would inspire pleasure in the viewer. The nude was clearly a crucial motif in this aim - the artist confessed that what interested him most in art was neither still life nor the landscape, but the human figure, and it was through the female figure that he was able to express his "nearly religious feelings toward life".
The Grande odalisque à la culotte bayadère is the epitome of voluptuousness and sensuality in his printed oeuvre, and the culmination of his interest in ornamental patterns, his romantic fascination with the odalisque and serail theme, and the collaboration between him and his foremost model.