Famous Artist Friday - Henri Matisse

Famous Artist Friday

Henri Matisse

 How do you like that quote?

Creativity Takes Courage!!!

Why do you think that is?

I think it's because it takes some intestinal fortitude to put yourself out there, particularly to family and friends when showing your art.

Our Famous Artist today is Henri Matisse.
Please enjoy.

Henri Matisse, a French painter, born in1869 and died in 1954 worked and lived in one of the most interesting times as an artist, post impressionism up to the onset of modern art.

Matisse trained as a lawyer and worked as a law clerk for a year when he became dissatisfied with his work.  He suffered an appendicitis attach and after surgery during his extensive recovery, he found and fell in love with painting.

Matisse paints mostly nudes and still lifes and a close examination of his work reveals the different periods of his studies.

Here are several links to view his artwork.  https://www.henrimatisse.org/paintings.jsp

Matisse is considered one of the best colorists of the 20^th century and his rival and friend, Pablo Picasso, were often found in each other’s company reviewing each other’s art.  Picasso reportedly said, no one had scrutinized more of Matisse’s art than him and no one had scrutinized his art more than Matisse. 

Picasso is credited with creating an art movement called cubism in conjunction with  Georges Braque, which has two segments:  the Analytic', in which forms seem to be 'analyzed' and fragmented; and 'Synthetic', in which pre-existing materials such as newspaper and wood veneer are collaged to the surface of the canvas.

Matisse delved into cubism but abandoned the pursuit of it as an art form.  Matisse and Andre’ Derain began another art movement titled “Fauvism” . Labeled as "wild beasts", Fauve artists favored vibrant colors and winding gestural strokes across the canvas.  Matisse used pure color in his work in addition to the white of his canvas and that is plainly visible in many of his still lifes and more abstract paintings. He used the white of his canvas to create form and movement along with vibrant color and sweeping strokes.   He is one of those painters where many people might say of his work “Well my 6 year old can do that”.  As you peruse Matisse’s paintings some are very minimalist and somewhat abstract and then there are some that are similar to the impressionist and you can see their influence in his art.

The three artists who influenced Matisse the most were, Paul Gaugin, Paul Cezanne and Pablo Picasso.  Matisse continues to influence artists all over the world today.

Matisse was also influenced by art from other cultures such as Islamic art for their decorative patterns, African art and its angular qualities and the flatness of Japanese art.  All of those influences can be seen in the art of Henri Matisse.

Matisse did not limit himself to painting.  In fact, he is very well known as a sculptor and collagist and he also was known as a draftsman, printmaker and late in life he did paper cut outs.  

Matisse once declared that he wanted his art to be one "of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter."  He also said he wanted his art to be comfortable like that of a favorite old chair.  

Anyone who has ever felt “I’m not good enough to paint, or I can’t do that,” Matisse would surely understand your feelings.  Ready to study his new passion, art, Matisse left for Paris in 1891, to study art but he failed the entrance exams for the Ecole des Beaux Arts.  He was accepted in 1895.  Years later Matisse would open an art school where he taught 80 artists in a matter of 3 years.   

Here are several links to view his artwork.

  https://www.henrimatisse.org/paintings.jsp

  

 http://www.henri-matisse.net/paintingssectionone.html

https://www.wikiart.org/en/henri-matisse

Below you'll see three Matisse works that I thought

 showed different aspects of his work. 

 This is titled "The Snail"

If you look at it you will see the nautilus of a snail.

And you can also see the white of his canvas allowing
 the colors to create the form.

Goldfish
I think the flatness of Japanese art 
was influencing him here.

Portrait of Lydia Delectonskaya
I love the shapes in this playful portrait.
(My grandson Aidan would love this because he loves everything green)

As Matisse said, "Creativity Takes Courage" 
and you can see it in each of these paintings. 
 We should all have such courage. 

Happy Famous Artist Friday