The unusually large scale of "La Toilette" suggests that it might have been drawn as a preparatory study for a painting. However, there is no known painting that corresponds to this composition. The subject—a domestic scene of a woman at her bath, assisted by her maid—is reminiscent of the work of such artists as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas. But there is a second, more immediate subject in play here: the depiction of an actual occurrence in the artist’s studio as Henri Matisse directs his daughter, Marguerite, to adjust the model’s pose. While viewing the image, we also experience the artist at work. Matisse used only a brush to make this powerful drawing, applying heavy black ink in a style that suggests his admiration for drawings by Vincent van Gogh. Though monumental in scale, the drawing communicates the immediacy of a quick sketch, a moment caught in time. Close inspection reveals areas of redrawing, evidence that Matisse was attempting to decide how the two figures would intersect and relate to each other. Aside from several rapid sketches of nudes, Etta and Claribel Cone never acquired any significant drawings from Matisse’s early career though Etta would eventually assemble one of the most important collections of the artist’s drawings from later decades. However, her collection of Matisse prints included this powerful woodcut from 1906, set in the artist’s studio and featuring the same reclining chair. In this print, Matisse was able to capture the same broad character of line attained in his "La Toilette" drawing of the same year.