In 1906, Matisse made a trip to Biskra in Algeria. He then painted Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra). He schematizes the woman's body, folding back the buttock, which is a mass of white paint, and adding volume to this contrasting area.

Presented at the Salon des Indépendants in 1907, the painting was poorly received. Criticism was consistently negative, and this time it hit Matisse hard, forcing him to turn his attention away from plastic problems for a while.

Picasso, on the other hand, understood what was at stake in the painting, and decided more than ever to respond with Les demoiselles, characterized by the destruction of the face and the absence of perspective. Matisse saw the painting in Picasso's studio, understood the response to his paintings, but said nothing. But at the Salon des Indépendants, where Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was exhibited in 1908, the Cubists followed Picasso's lead. Matisse, though still defended by Apollinaire, was abandoned as the leader of the avant-garde. He broke with Picasso until 1913.