interiors by Matisse

A detailed Summary of interiors by Matisse


Henri Matisse was born in Le Cateau, France in 1869. He was the leader of a movement entitled Fauvism. In the book called Matisse (a collection of color plates compiled by editor Jose Maria Faerna), he describes the artists of this movement as, "[developing] a very free style of painting, using vibrant, arbitrary color - that is to say color independent from the actual hue of the object represented in the picture." (5) This idea of using color that was nonrepresentative was very radical during this time. In fact, the term fauve was French for "wild beast". The revolutionary artists liked the term so much that they accepted it as their identification (Wilenski, 160). The Fauves used color in softer, but bright hues. This was evident in Matisse's twentieth century genre painting Interior at Nice. Something that was not as evident, however, was the state of the world at this time. Despite the conflict and disorder of World War I, Matisse created works of art that conve!


Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1954

Hiller, Peter. "Inside, Outside and Through...with Henri Matisse." Arts & Activities Sept. 1997: 40-41.

war, Matisse spent his winters at Nice. Here he created a series of interior genre scenes. He did not choose to show the gory scenes of war, but instead chose to practice his application of vibrant, soft color. These interior scenes illustrate the ability Matisse had to use color to convey mood. This series of paintings were pictures of leisure and relaxation, quite contrary to the current state of the world at that time. The particular work of art mentioned above was no exception.

The second method Matisse uses is the one he is most known for: the manipulation of color. Though the colors do contrast each other, it is not a sharp contrast that is alarming. Instead it is a contrast that is complimentary and very inviting. He applies colors that are soft and bright, not dark and harsh colors. He uses four main colors to set his theme: soft hues

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Approximate Word count = 709
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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