It looks like political correctness prevents the art world from calling a spade a spade:
The Smithsonian Magazine, August 4, 2009
Decorating the White House with Smithsonian Art
Watusi (Hard Edge)
Alma Thomas
1963
Acrylic on canvas
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Alma Thomas, the first African-American woman to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum, was linked to the color-field school that had developed in Washington, D.C. in the 1960s. In Watusi, Thomas is trying to mix together different styles such as Henri Matisse’s cutouts. “She was also interested in the idea that color could generate musical correspondence,” Brougher says. “It was more than creating an abstract painting but trying to create music out of painting.”
The sole commenter on the article wasn't playing the PC game:
This isn't just "mixing together" influences including Matisse. It is a direct copy of a Matisse work, just rotated 90 degrees and with the colors switched around:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/strifu/2205522821
Posted by MDC on August 4,2009 | 10:27PM
It is also different media.