Henri Matisse

France gave the world a huge galaxy of outstanding artists, one of which is the largest and most prominent representative of the artistic movement of Fauvism, Henri Matisse. His career began in 1892, when the future artist successfully passed the exams at the Julian Paris Academy. There he attracted the attention of Gustave Moreau, who predicted to Matisse a bright career in the artistic field.

The search for yourself, the personal author's style is a prerequisite for the development of any talented master brush. Sooner or later, each of the great artists found his own unique methods and techniques, characteristic of his individual manner, guided by the formed personal understanding of the role of painting and his own vision of the surrounding world. But there must be exceptions from every rule, only confirming this rule. One such exception was the famous artist Henri Matisse.

“The creativity of this man cannot be characterized in any particular direction, since he constantly went beyond any limiting framework, rushing again and again to where no one has been to him before.”

“Henri Matisse always felt in color a power capable of emphasizing sensation. In his works, he made the color emit a glow and a rhythmic dance ripple. Striving to maximize the expression of the whole, the artist removed all irrelevant details and extremely simplified the forms, considering everything that did not directly affect the emotional-energetic impulse to be harmful and unnecessary. ”

Many of his compositions seem deceptively simple, but behind each of them is a titanic creative work that creates a striking strain of this “flashy” simplicity.

In the last years of his life, with the help of ordinary colored paper and scissors, Henri Matisse created applications that produced a stunning effect of symphonic color sound, rhythmic musicality of lines and absolute compositional harmony.

After the artist’s death, Pablo Picasso briefly and succinctly described his work with one phrase “Matisse was always the only and unique”.

INTERESTING FACTS FROM THE ARTIST'S LIFE

The Golden Dove Hotel in Saint-Paul-de-Vence breathes incredible stories and celebrity legends. According to rumors that once Henri Matisse arrived at the Dove very tired, and he was served a cup of tea right in the car. Known work by Henri Matisse "Tea in the garden" (Tea in the Garden).

The painting "Dance" by Henri Matisse. There are two versions of the picture and two versions of its origin. It is believed that this work tells about the dance seen by Matisse in Collier. The second version says that the picture was painted after the Russian seasons seen by the author Sergei Dyagilev. One of the “Dances” is kept in the Hermitage (St. Petersburg), the other is in the MoMA.

Woman in a purple coat

Date of creation: 1937

This work is a portrait of Lydia Delektorskaya, who was a muse, and later - a companion of Matisse. Lydia is depicted in an exotic Moroccan costume, surrounded by exotic color and abstract interior. This picture demonstrates the declarative style of the author.

Open window

Date of Creation: 1905

Henri Matisse was the most prominent participant in the artistic movement that was short-lived, but noticeable in the art of the 20th century - Fauvism, which was characterized by a bright expressionist and non-naturalistic method of using colors. A classic illustration of the work of this direction is the painting “Open Window”, depicting a view from the artist’s apartment in Collioure, on the southern coast of France. The work is considered significant for early modernism.

Goldfish and palette

Created Date: 1914

During his visit to Morocco, Matisse remarked that, after consuming some intoxicating drugs, they spend time in silent contemplation of goldfish. Returning to Paris, he set the bowl with such a fish in his workshop. In nine paintings by the artist these creatures appear, but this one is probably the most famous. Initially, Matisse sketched a self-portrait, with a palette in his hand, like Paul Cezanne. The fish and palette denote a hidden connection with the work of Harlequin by Picasso, interpreted as a self-portrait. Matisse and Picasso were close friends, but also eternal rivals.

Red studio

Date of Creation: 1907

The painting depicts the workshop of Matisse: randomly scattered throughout the studio paintings, sculptures, dishes. The walls and floor are evenly covered in red paint. "Red Studio" is considered a key work in the history of art, and in 2004, by the results of a survey of experts, took the fifth place out of 500 in the list of the most influential works of contemporary art.

"Blue Nude”

In the end of his life, Henri Matisse was fascinated by the application and collages using the decoupage technique. The work was carried out as follows - the artist painted the paper with gouache, and then cut out all the necessary fragments from it.

In 1952, the artist completed a series of paintings under the general title “Blue Nude”, where he depicted a female figure expressed in a combination of abstract forms and structures. The whole series is a variation on one main leitmotif, due to the pose of a woman - this is the favorite position of the female body in space, to which the artist has repeatedly resorted, namely, crossed legs and arms thrown back.

The main advantage of the entire series in an extraordinary harmony. Two colors - white and blue, intertwined by the layout of individual parts that embody the female figure, albeit in a deliberately distorted form. It seems that remove one fragment and everything - the harmony will be broken, and the figure will turn into an incoherent set of elements. Each picture resembles not even a planar drawing, but a bizarre sculpture, magically transformed into a two-dimensional image.

This extraordinary harmony did not come easy to the master - before the paintings got their finished look, Matisse’s notebook was dotted with numerous sketches and sketches showing how long the artist had been looking for the right kind of fragment.

Matisse himself argued that the application - this is the best way to paint in color, because you do not need to spend time on the contours, which will have to fill after the colors, and so he can immediately create the necessary color to him. And for this series, it was enough for him only two, that would depict peace, purity, measuredness and harmony, which Matisse always aspired to.

“Blue nudes” is a wonderful translator of Matisse’s views, who does not want to portray dramatic, complex emotions, but only to bring people relaxation, peace and aesthetic satisfaction, that is, joy in the highest sense of the word’s understanding.