Henri Matisse

 

In class the students learned about the French painter Henri Matisse. He was making work from the 1890s up through the 1950s when he died. He was working around the same time frame as Wassily Kandinsky  and Pablo Picasso. 

 Madame Matisse: The Green Stripe, Henri Matisse 1905

Henri Matisse's early works often use vivid, wild colors. He was one of the founding artists in the Fauvist movement. "Fauve" is a French word meaning "wild beast." They got this name for the wild, outlandish colors they would use. At the time, this was a fresh idea in painting that hadn't really been seen before; most people were using traditional and natural colors.

Harmony in Red, Henri Matisse, 1908

From this painting you can clearly see the inspiration Matisse drew from the artist Vincent Van Gogh. Matisse was introduced to the work of Van Gogh from a mutual friend. At that time, Van Gogh was a completely unknown painter. Just look at the similar style of the chair:

Vincent's Chair, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Matisse started out as a painter but in the later years of his life, he underwent surgery that left him in a wheelchair. This meant he could no longer stand at his easel to work. Restricted to his chair, he developed a technique called, "painting with scissors," where he would cut shapes out of brightly colored paper and glue them to a solid colored background. These collages are often quite large and involve organic shapes that look like leaves, flowers or coral.

Le Gerbe (installed in home), Henri Matisse 1953

Matisse's work is characterized by bright color, bold pattern, a flattened background, and often using thin paint. His favorite subjects were domestic scenes, meaning scenes inside the home. He often painted interior rooms with still-lives, like flowers in vases, fishbowls, and female models. Here are some examples of his work: drawings, paintings, and collage:

Woman with a Hat, Matisse 1905

Self Portrait in a Striped Shirt, Matisse 1906

Red Fish, Matisse 1911

Face of a Woman, Matisse, 1935

Woman with a Purple Coat, Matisse 1937

 Music, Matisse, 1938

Face/Flower, Matisse, 1948

Blue Nude II, Matisse 1952

To learn more, the website "Matisse: Life and Painting" has a very in-depth and organized database. 

As usual, I was really impressed with the art my students made. They found a lot of characteristics in his work that they wanted to imitate, which I thought was wonderful. :)

 Here are some pretty flowers like the ones Matisse painted. They remind me of the long-stemed anemones.

 Here's a portrait of Matisse that I find really interesting. This student has stylized and exaggerated Matisse's features, giving him long legs and short arms. I showed the students a photo of Matisse as an old man and made a joke about what a cute old man he was and commented on how high he wore his pants. This student found that hilarious and used it as his inspiration.

 This student did too. ;)

 This student used her Goldfish Crackers to make her own version of "Red Fish."

 I think this one is really wonderful. I was explaining how Matisse would often elongate the features on his models to emphasise grace and femininity. He would often give the women long, straight noses and wiggly arms and legs. Here, my student did just that, and also used Matisse's bright colors and love of floral bouquets as inspiration. Awesome!

 She's creating her own version of "Red Fish!"

 This is really wonderful too. She's using Matisse's love of color and pattern and also his floral, fish, and interior subject matter.