While many art-goers flock to the Smithsonians and other galleries to see the many compelling traveling exhibits that make their way through town, Washington’s art museums contain a treasure trove of works of historical and artistic importance in permanent collections that often go overlooked. This post is the first in a series exploring some of the paintings, sculptures and other works that are always on display in D.C.

One such painting is Henri Matisse’s Studio, Quai Saint-Michel, housed at The Phillips Collection. The Phillips is home to three drawings and two oils by Matisse, a French artist known for his brightly colored paintings in the Fauvist style.

Museum founder Duncan Phillips did not initially like Matisse’s work — around 1914 he believed that “in Matisse the degeneration of… expressionism reached its bottom…[He] creates patterns unworthy of…little children and benighted savages, patterns not only crude but deliberately false and at times insanely depraved.” He had changed his mind about post-impressionism by 1927, when he said Matisse “…is one of those rare artists who dare to create an abstract style which corresponds with their crystal-clear mental conceptions and with their exhilarating visual sensations.”