Henri Matisse
84 years old
Background History
Henri Matisse was born in La Cataue-Cambresis, Nord, France, in 1869. In 1889, he went to Paris to study law. Then he went back to Paris to study art at the Academe Julian. Henri was the oldest son of a prosperous grain merchant. When he decided to be an artist, he disappointment to his father. In 1894, a model Caroline Joblau, born him a daughter, Marguerite. Then in 1898, he married to Amelie Noellie Parayre, and both raised Marguerite and had two sons, Jean and Pierre. Henri traveled to London to study the painting of J.M.W Turner, then to Corsica.
Art Movement
Henri Matisse was involved in Impressionism, Modern art, Neo-Impressionism, Modernism, and Fauvism. He was the first achieved prominence as a leader of the French movement, Fauvism. Henri used pure colors and the white of exposed canvas to create a lighter-filled atmosphere. Matisse used contrasting areas of pure, unmodulated color. North Africa was a important inspiration to him. The human figure was important to his work both in sculpture and painting. Its importance for his Fauvist work reflects his feeling that the subject had been neglected. He would sometime fragmented the figure harshly, at other times he would treated it almost as a curvilinear, decorative element. Mark Rothko and Kenneth Noland, were taken with his broad fields of bright color. Robert Motherwell was influenced by his view of painting color and form. He made an important contribution to collage with series of works using cut-out shapes of color.
Still Life with Vegetables
Promenade among the Olive Trees
Nasturtiums with the Painting "Dance"
Laurette in a Green Robe (Black Background)
The Young Sailor
Still Life with Compote and Fruit
Woman with a Hat
This is my favorite because I love the color. It's not a normal color that a face, cloths, hat, or hair would be, but you could tell that it's a woman with a hat. I really like the unity that is incorporated into it. There are space and contrast.