The French Collection, Faith Ringgold’s quilt painting series of a fictional African American artist and artists’ model in 1920s Paris, presents a revisionist view of the early twentieth century School of Paris. It tells the story of Willia Marie Simone, a fictional character created by Ringgold, and her experience as a Black woman determined to become a successful artist in France.

This intricate 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle is of the work Matisse’s Model (The French Collection, Part I: #5) (1991), depicting Willia Marie modeling nude for Henri Matisse.

1000 pieces

18.9 x 17.3 in.

Artist, author, educator, and organizer Faith Ringgold (born New York, New York, 1930) is one of the most influential cultural figures of her generation. Her artistic career connects the multi-disciplinary practices of the Harlem Renaissance to the political art of young Black artists working today.

For sixty years, Ringgold has drawn from both personal autobiography and collective histories to document her life as an artist and mother and to amplify the struggles for social justice and equity. From creating some of the most indelible artworks of the civil rights era to challenging accepted hierarchies of art versus craft through her experimental story quilts, Ringgold has produced a body of work that bears witness to the complexity of the American experience.