I visited the Museum of Modern Art, also known as the MoMA, for the first time ever on April 24th.  It happened to be particularly crowded this day and I had already arrived later than planned so I aimed my focus for my visit towards the fifth floor which consists of works from the 1880s-1950s.  I thoroughly enjoyed my short visit and fully intend on going back to see the rest of the Museum of Modern Art.

The work of art I chose is called “The Piano Lesson”  This work was created by the French artist, Henri Matisse, in the year 1916.  Matisse is considered one of the most important French artists of the 20th century.  An incredible title for someone who only became interested in art at the age of 21.

During the 1910s Europe was a central location for innovation, especially within the world of art.  Throughout Europe, there were new styles such as cubism, which were futuristic and daunting to some.  As a response to this futuristic style of art, many artists turned to exploring the possibilities of color.  Matisse was one of these artists.  The Fauve movement came as a result of Matisse’s new style of work.  The Fauve movement is a result of artists using bright color to express movement within their works, rather than a traditional three-dimensional setting.  This new style evoked mixed reviews but nonetheless, exemplifies true modernism.

I happened to come across this piece as a result of being in the Matisse section of the gallery.  Growing up my grandfather, an artist himself, was a big fan of Matisse and had an actual Matisse work in his apartment. I think what drew me to this work in particular was the flatness and the bright colors on the gray backdrop.  The colors give depth to the room even though it is two-dimensional.  Upon reading the description to the side of the piece I found out more interesting information.  Matisse had originally started this work in the “naturalism” style.  The naturalism style is the realistic depiction of objects in a natural setting.  Taking that into consideration it is interesting to see the progressive changes throughout his work.  You can see the boy’s face had begun as a natural style but as Matisse changed his style he added the triangle to his face.  Again by breaking the traditional style, Matisse created a piece of modern work.

I only have a few questions that I would ask for this piece.  Why did Matisse decide to change his work halfway through?  Were the effects of World War I, and its technological advances, a big influence on his styles of art?  Why did time play such an important role throughout Matisse’s works?