[4] Shortly after returning from Morocco to his studio in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Matisse produced a series of nine paintings between the spring and early summer of 1912.

[6] Some art history sources include 1911 and 1912 in the painting's dating,[2][3] though the Hermitage Museum's web entry on Arab Coffeehouse states the piece originated in 1913, being executed in the early part of that year.

[6][8] The piece's surface is suffused by a green turquoise color that "[dissolves] distinctions within a fluid realm, [and links] the Oriental air and light to the watery sphere marked only by a confining line".

Originally containing "more concrete observations of nature and greater variety in colour," Matisse gradually removed elements from the painting and employed an "expressive simplification".

Additionally, they are "grouped around two central elements: the glass aquarium with the goldfish in the foreground and the musical instrument being played in the background".

[7] The Hermitage wrote that Arab Coffeehouse is "the epitome of absolute inner peace," referencing the figures in the painting being cut off from their surroundings, "as if they had lost consciousness of their bodily weight".

[7] Admiring what he perceived as a "relaxed and contemplative" lifestyle possessed by the Moroccans, Matisse would come to utilize goldfish as a symbolization of a tranquil mindset.