In my 8th grade French class, I had to give a speech (en francais) about the painter Edgar Degas. I’m not sure I can really describe it as a speech; it was a string of simple, present-tense sentence that were interrupted by idiotic questions for the teacher like, “Madame Boucher, comment dites ‘ballarina’?” As part of a unit on Impressionism, each student was assigned one of the great early-twentieth-century artists to speak about. One by one, we stumbled through our presentations – Claude Monet, Marie Cassatt, Paul Gauguin, George Seurat; the artist I had the strongest response to was Henri Matisse.
Matisse was born in northern France in 1869. As a young man, he studied law and then worked in a law office. He took up drawing in his free time, and moved to Paris when he was in his early twenties to pursue an education in painting. He was traditionally trained but soon became influenced by the progressive painters of the day, especially George Seurat.
As it turns out, Madame Boucher’s interpretation of Impressionism was very loose. Matisse was actually a part of a post-Impressionist movement called Fauvism. In French, “les fauves” means “the beasts”.
The Fauvists used big, bold swaths of color and were concerned with conveying mood and emotion. Matisse was actually a pioneer in the movement. Fauvists were building on the abstractions and deconstructions of earlier impressionist movements such as pointillism (painting tiny dots rather than using brush strokes). This was a period of painting that rejected the realism of the 19th century, and embraced innovation and experimentation. Like the Impressionists before them, the post-Impressionists were concerned with how to evoke the sensual experiences of the physical world, but they went even further by embracing less literal representations of people and objects. The Fauvists exemplify Modernism.
The picture I selected is titled “The Red Studio”. Painted in 1911, it’s a rendering of Matisse’s own atelier (or art studio). I selected it because I think it’s a great example of Fauvism. It’s painted almost entirely in a passionate red. The paintings on the atelier walls are miniature versions of Matisse’s recently completed works and they exuberantly jump off the canvas. Except for the window, the only fully formed items are the artists’ works. The other items in the room are only suggested; the table, chairs, pedestals, and floor are only sketchy outlines. Taken all together, I get the sense that Matisse was extraordinarily ardent about his craft.
There are two features of this work are particularly striking. First is the chair in the foreground. Not only does it play with perspective in a way that rejects traditional perceptions, it’s also the only “unreal” item to obscure one of the artist’s works. This visual obstacle gives the atelier depth and proportion using a very few lines. Second is the far left corner of the room. There is no line to suggest it at all. The viewer “feels” the corner because of the way that the other artwork is situated against the invisible walls of the room.
This work is situated in the fifth floor gallery of the Museum of Modern Art. It hangs alongside many other iconic Matisse paintings such as “La Dance”. As I moved through the room, I was impressed by the artist’s range. While there are definitely unifying features of the works, there is an impressive diversity in form and materials.
I’ve encountered Matisse many times in the past – first in that 8th grade French class, but then in museums like MoMA here at home, the Musee D’Orsay in Paris, and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. For me, Matisse’s unique ability to convey emotion through the audacious use of color and geometry make him a 20th century master.
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Here are some other works by Matisse that show his range.
