The film chronicles Henri Matisse's travels to Tangier as he seeks new motifs for his paintings from a Moroccan perspective. Henri Matisse made two trips to Tangier in early 1912 and in the winter of 1912-1913, seaching for new motifs for his paintings. The lush colors and sensuous imagery of North Africa proved extraordinarily fruitful. Matisse completed twenty-three paintings – many of them master works – and more than sixty pen-and-ink drawings.