Le Bateau is a paper-cut

Papercutting

Papercutting is the art of cutting paper designs. The art has evolved uniquely all over the world to adopt to different cultural styles.-History:...

 from 1953 by Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...

. The picture is composed from pieces of paper cut out of sheets painted with gouache

Gouache

Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...

, and was created during the last years of Matisse's life.

History

Le Bateau caused a minor stir when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which housed it, hung the print upside-down for 47 days in 1961 until Genevieve Habert, a stockbroker, noticed the mistake and notified a guard. Habert later informed the New York Times who in turn notified Monroe Wheeler, the Museum's art director. As a result, the artwork was rehung properly.

The museum currently houses the piece in the "Final Works of Henri Matisse" exhibition.