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The Piano Lesson (1916)
At first glance, The Piano Lesson appears to be a conventional domestic scene in which Matisse presents his son Pierre practising the piano. However, with its sombre grey backdrop and an atmosphere of anxiety and trauma, many critics believe that the canvas is also a subtle comment on the brutalities of the First World War.
Watch as Alastair Sooke reveals the darker side of The Piano Lesson, which now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
