A panorama of windows frames a lush roadway near Henri Matisse’s home. Focusing on stillness instead of speed, Matisse placed his sketchbook in the driver’s seat of his 1911 Renault 6 CV, where he drafted this very painting. The closed cab allowed him to bring his studio on the road, chauffeured by his son Pierre. Matisse’s careful inclusion of its fixtures-steering wheel, door handles, klaxon horn— reflects hours spent working inside the car, observing France’s developing infrastructure as well as the new and fascinating interior world of the automobile.