A highly original painter, sculptor, printmaker, designer and book illustrator, Henri Matisse nevertheless began his career rather late in the academic studio of William Bouguereau. After 1900 he abandoned perspective and shadows, and he rejected the academic distinction between line and color, attempting to create an entirely new paradigm for western painting. Between 1918 and 1930 Matisse spent most of each year in Nice, during which time he evolved a more naturalistic style, concentrating on the female form, secluded interiors, and still-lifes saturated in light. His still-lifes, while not considered major works, were nonetheless extraordinarily beautiful. His interest in this subject matter culminated in a series of paintings in 1924, among which Les Pensées de Pascal may be counted. Les Pensées is a collection of the spiritual writings, or thoughts (pensées), of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a 17th century French mathematician, physicist and later, Christian philosopher.