This colorful painting done from 1905 by Henri Matisse demonstrates the increasing emphasis on color that took place during the "Fauves" movement. I find it interesting to see how many different colors are used on each object. The face has six or seven different colors on it, and that is not including the features such as eyes or her mouth. Still, her face is very distinct and it is not hard to picture what the model for this painting may have looked like.
Her face is sandwiched between two dark features of the painting, her body and her hat. This makes the face the artistic focus of the painting, but many people who look at the painting question the nature of her hat. The fact that it is so big makes me think it is one of those fruit hats. However, its dark colors seem to contradict this assumption. The features are very blurry and distorted, so it is impossible to say what it is for sure. This is probably by design. I am sure that many artists like to have an element of mystery in their paintings. If I had to take a guess, I would say it was a fruit hat, and it was given darker colors to give an overall balancing effect to the painting, with the bright face in the center of the painting.
No comments:
Post a Comment