How did Henri Matisse develop his sculpture The Back over time?

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Henri Matisse stands in a studio wearing a painter's smock, holding a palette beside a wooden ladder, with abstract artwork visible in the background. — Henri Matisse French artist Henri Matisse, photograph by Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1913.

Henri Matisse developed his monumental sculpture series, The Back, over a period of more than 20 years. He worked on the project at intervals beginning in 1909 and finally completed the fourth and most nearly abstract version by 1930.1

The work, which depicts a female nude in relief, evolved significantly throughout this time. As Matisse returned to sculpture after periods of neglect, he refined the piece, moving toward greater abstraction in each successive iteration. By the time he finished the fourth version, it represented a culmination of his long-term exploration of form and structure.1