Henri Matisse Essay

Henri Matisse is considered to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, showing with his work and career one of the two paths that modern art would take. The other would be showcased by Pablo Picasso, a friend and rival of Matisse for a great part of the two men’s lives.
In the early years of the 20th century Matisse started working with Derain and soon became the leader of the short-lived, yet highly influential, Fauvist style. The Fauves, as they were called focused on color and bright light and these two elements remained important for Matisse throughout his career. He preferred subjects devoid of depressing subject matters as he himself had said, while the nude human figure and the still life were his favorite subjects. He was influenced by African, Asian and Islamic art bringing a multi cultural aspect to art. In fact, his love of adding decorative elements in his paintings is believed to have derived from his influence from Islamic art. He primarily created paintings, although he was also interested in sculpture and towards the end of his career made some powerful collages.
Matisse lived throughout the two World Wars and both had an effect on his art. During the First World War, he refrained from using the bright colors of his earlier years. This change however, was short lived and from 1917 he returned to his usual palette. Health problems from the 1940’s onward forced the artist to use a wheelchair. As a result he turned to drawing and the use of paper cut-outs in order to be able to continue working. With the use of cut-outs, Matisse simplified his forms further, showing only their essential aspects.
One of the best known paintings created by Matisse is The Woman with a Hat from 1905. This belongs to the Fauvist period in the career of the artist and is indeed a portrait of his wife. It is however a unique portrait very different to the established traditions of the period. The woman poses for the artist and looks at the viewer, wearing clothes and a hat that would be worn by other women at the time. Matisse however, has added patches of bright colors all over the work, even on the woman’s face. The features of the face have been simplified and Matisse portrayed only what was essential for the viewer’s understanding. It is color that is of utmost importance and this dominates the picture. For Matisse’s contemporaries the painting was shocking. For the 21st century eye, it is aesthetically pleasing and interesting to look at. The combination of colors is successful and despite the fact that artist combined many different shades of red, green, orange, yellow and blue, the end result is surprisingly balanced and harmonious. The painting actually reminds the viewer of other 20th century artists that were probably influenced by Matisse and his work, like Mark Rothko.
Henri Matisse is an intriguing artist mainly because he chose to concentrate on color instead of form and figure. His simplified lines come in sharp contrast with the bright colors of the paintings, while the influences from other cultures make the end result an interesting combination of western, Asian, African and Islamic ideas. Despite this combination of influences and colors, Matisse managed to create paintings that are surprisingly unified.
It is this rejection of form in favor of color that I most like about Matisse and his work. Looking at his paintings I feel a relaxing and calming energy coming my way, as the artist himself wished for his audience to feel.