The functional purpose of the painting is basically that of a portrait. In this case, the woman in the painting is actually Matisse's wife, Amelie. Most portraits stand alone and are created to preserve the beauty and perhaps characteristics of an individual. This particular painting was "first exhibited at the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris," according to the information provided next to the painting, and was later purchased by the Stein family, who were close friends with Matisse. I personally believe Matisse's intention for his artwork was to show it off to the world. It would be a waste to keep it locked up in a house. Most portraits of the era were smooth and consisted of realistic ideals. Femme au Chapeau exposes a new type of portrait for eve

In essence to the composition of Femme au Chapeau, the portrait definitely has formal attributes. Amelie is seated in the center of the painting, with her face in the center of the image. Since there are no other objects in the painting, she is the sole focus of the artwork. Her image is comfortably placed in the middle and does not seem to be crowded or squeezed by anything else. The composition is similar to most other portraits that Henri Matisse designed, such as the ones for Michael and Sarah Stein. Although there are very few objects in the painting, the composition fits nicely and the body parts look proportional to each other. The hat appears to be as big as Amelie's upper body, but does not force anything to look out of context. As for the directional focus, the immediate attribute that draws my attention is Amelie's eyes. One reason for this is obviously its position in the center of the image. Also, compared to all the soft colors on her face, the eyes stand out the most. In some ways, she almost looks as if she is looking either back at the spectator or to the spectator's left. As for organization, the use of vertical and diagonal lines can be seen, but they are not strongly apparent. Amelie is aligned in the middle of the image, almost dividing the painting into three vertical sections: the background, Amelie, and another background. There is also a bit of a diagonal line, from the top left going to the bottom right. This is illustrated by how Amelie appears to be leaning back. Her angular face also looks like an arrow pointing to the lower right hand corner.

As for the texture of the painting, the surface looks rough. Because Matisse used oil paint, one can see some thickness of the paint that was not smoothed out. Also, the oil produces a shine and enhances the vibrancy of the bright colors. The looseness and quickness of Matisse's brushstrokes are very visible and sketchy. This gives off a lively feeling and almost brings the painting to life. In some ways, it almost looks as if each brushstroke was intentionally planted in its position. For example, the deep strokes placed on the fan that the woman is holding gives off a beautiful detail within itself. The new use of quick brushstrokes was also new to this era and caught many spectators off guard. This will be discussed more in depth at a later time.

Color is perhaps the strongest trait of Femme au Chapeau. Almost every primary and secondary color is used. The only color not obvious is black. A

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1693
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)