"I have always adored the sea, and now that I can no longer go for a swim, I have surrounded myself with it."

The originally 54-foot mural of blue bathers silhouetted against a white rectangular band was designed to adorn the walls of Matisse's dining room at the Hôtel Régina in Nice. The room itself was lined with tan burlap, a popular wall covering of the time. Matisse cut his own divers, swimmers, and sea creatures out of paper painted in an ultramarine blue. Matisse saw in paper’s pliability a perfect representation of the fluidity of water, making The Swimming Pool a perfect rendering for the means. The blue forms were pinned on the white paper, defining the aquatic ballet of bodies and splashing water. In a dynamic interaction with background support, each bather flows rhythmically into the next, sometimes breaking free of the horizontal band. Matisse’s fulfills his career-long desire to create an idealized environment for himself with this serene aquatic imagery paired with brilliant culmination.