Portrait of Madame Matisse by Henry Matisse (1905)

I choose to write about this specific painting due to the fact I saw the original painting back in Denmark. It is exciting to be able to remember one piece of art out of thousands, and thousands of different other paintings and art structures.

A under-appreciator will probably just claim that there isn't to much thought to this presentation. There is only less than half a dozen colors in the whole painting, but I believe that the colors are chosen for the specific purpose of giving Madame Matisse a dominant feminine look.

Dark orange, light purple, light red with pink, olive green, yellow and black is what is to be seen from far away, but amazingly enough I feel like I can see so many different art styles in just one painting. I see expressionism, pointillism, and synthetism. Now again, I do not know if that is quite right, but despite that I really think that he incorporates different eras in just one.

The painting is extremely vivid with a blurring echo of her power if you will. I can seem to come to a conclusion of why Henry Matisse decided to paint his wife with a green stripe going down her face, so I looked up a real life portrait of her, and she looks like this:

It took quite some time to find a picture of her, which is why this blog is posted so late on the day, but I am most certainly impressed by the Henri Matisse's elegant brush strokes now more than ever. I must say he is a true artist due to the fact that he could depict his wife with great precision and complexity. Now do not let the word complexity confuse you. What is meant by complexity in this context is like I mentioned before, despite the few colors used there is an enormous amount of effort in this specific artwork. 

There is not a right answer in art, but despite that I want to elaborate because I can not stop doing it, but if I put myself in behind Henry Matisse's eyes, I see that really payed close attention to detail. Moreover, I feel like he tried to show the world what he sees in his wife, and that is where he incorporated the green stripe. That was the glory right in the middle of her face. Matisse is giving the world something that we can all see, but something that only he can feel.

I have a theory that the green stripe gave the world a new perspective on portraits in general. Now, I do not know if I am off on a tangent, but it is depicted in a lot of very famous art works after Matisse, and here are some examples, but just before I end off I would like to add that the upcoming works do not necessarily have anything that even resembles a green stripe, but it is based on the same idea of Matisse's. I think he had in mind to show us how he can just the background and the front segregated. It is the side view with the vibrant naturalistic shade that he possibly empowered.

Frida Kahlo

President Barrack Obama

Ernesto Che Guevara

NOTE: Please do not focus on historical or political content of the examples. This is solely depicted paintings, 3D animations, and photographs that I could think of with the use of Matisse's lightning effect (or similiar) .

2 non visual sources:

1) Involving Matisse and his model describing the history line of how the development went on. (FOCUS paragraph 4 and 7)

Authors:

Spurling, Hilary

Source:

Smithsonian, Oct2005, Vol. 36 Issue 7, p72-80, 9p, 9 Color Photographs, 5 Black and White Photographs

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

MATISSE, Henri, 1869-1954
PAINTING
ARTISTS
PAINTERS
WOMEN in art
NUDE in art

Abstract:

Focuses on the painter Henri Matisse. Relocation to Nice after Nazi Germany overthrew France in 1940; Posing of Matisse's wife, Amélie, who was attracted to the desperation and danger of Matisse, represented in his paintings; Controversy of Matisse's paintings "Woman in a Hat" and "Portrait of Madame Matisse" among contemporaries due to their riotous colors.

Lexile:

1360

Full Text Word Count:

3754

ISSN:

00377333

Accession Number:

18314137

Database:

MasterFILE Premier

2) Authors:

Lubow, Arthur

Source:

Smithsonian, Jan2012, Vol. 42 Issue 9, p50-62, 10p

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

ART -- Collectors & collecting -- History -- 20th century
STEIN, Gertrude, 1874-1946
STEIN, Leo
STEIN, Michael
PICASSO, Pablo, 1881-1973
MATISSE, Henri, 1869-1954
CEZANNE, Paul, 1839-1906
PARIS (France) -- History -- 1870-1940

Geographic Terms:

PARIS (France)
FRANCE

Abstract:

The article discusses the art collecting of writer Gertrude Stein and her brothers Leo Stein and Michael Stein, as well as Michael's wife, Sarah. It examines a period in the early twentieth century when they lived in Paris, France. The author comments on their relationships with and collecting of the art of several artists, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cézanne, particularly noting the purchase of the Matisse painting "Woman with a Hat." The author also considers how Gertrude Stein's interest in art impacted her writing. INSET: CATALYZING MODERN ART.

Lexile:

1220

Full Text Word Count:

4061

ISSN:

00377333

Accession Number:

69921824

Database:

MasterFILE Premier