Featured image: Joy of Life (Le Bonheur de Vivre) (1905-06)
“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject-matter, an art which could be for every mental worker, for the businessman as well as the man of letters, for example, a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.” – Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse is probably considered to be one of the greatest colourists of the 20th century with regards to his innovations. His works influence me and I love to look at his beautiful paintings which inspire me an start my wrists twitching and my thoughts going ready for my own piece of work to begin.
By Henri Matisse – www.mcs.csuhayward.edu, 1 January 2008, PD-US, Link
During his Fauve years Matisse often painted landscapes in the south of France during the summer and worked up ideas developed there into larger compositions upon his return to Paris. Joy of Live, the second of his important imaginary compositions, is typical of these. He used a landscape he had painted in Collioure to provide the setting for the idyll, but it is also influenced by ideas drawn from Watteau, Poussin, Japanese woodcuts, Persian miniatures, and 19th century Orientalist images of harems. The scene is made up of independent motifs arranged to form a complete composition. The massive painting and its shocking colors received mixed reviews at the Salon des Indépendants. Critics noted its new style — broad fields of color and linear figures, a clear rejection of Paul Signac’s celebrated Pointillism.
Read More ...
via Henri Matisse Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story
Share this:
