Henri Matisse During Ww1

Samantha Maurer
ARTH200
Valerie Colston
06/21/2015
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse Biography Henri Matisse was born in a small town named Le Cateau-Cambrésis in France. Matisse was born on December 31, in 1869. Matisse was born to his mother, Anna Heloise Gerard and his father, Emile Hippolyte Matisse (“The Personal Life of Matisse). Matisse’s mother was the daughter of tanners and his father was a grain merchant. Matisse grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois, which was the central location for the textile industry during that time, until he was ten years old (Bio). Anna worked in a portion of Emile’s shop that produced paints for houses. Matisse worked as a solicitor clerk in Saint Quentin (Bio). In 1887, Matisse traveled to Paris to begin a law degree.

In this style of painting, Matisse began using bright colors, and disregard for details within the works. Matisse used his knowledge of the Impressionist style to create the backbone for Fauvism. The movement did not last very long. Many pieces of Matisse art during this phase were nudes, but he did paint of portrait of his wife, Portrait of Madame Matisse, The Green Line 1905, which I will examine later within my paper. During WWI, Matisse’s life seemed to fall apart. In 1939, his marriage of 41 years had fallen apart and Amelie and Matisse divorced. Matisse had an intimate relationship with Amelie assistant( Metropolitan Museum of Art). He had an operation and his health was failing. Matisse turned to an art form of paper cutouts, to occupy his time. Matisse died at the age of 84, from a heart attack. He was laid to rest at Notre Dame de Cimiez (The Personal Life of Henri Matisse)

The color pallet that Matisse uses is very similar to other paintings that I have seen. In many of his paintings, Matisse used bright colors to achieve a sense of harmony. I think that this piece is very successful in capturing the beauty that Matisse sees in his wife. The colors do a great job of grabbing the attention of the viewer.

Works Cited:
Aagesen, Dorthe. "Henri Matisse (1896-1954), Portrait of Madame Matisse. The Green Stripe, 1905." Statens Museum for Kunst National Gallery of Denmark. National Gallery of Denmark, 29 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 June 2015. .

“Ballet Dancer Seated on a Stool.” Collection. Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), 2007. Web. 20 June 2015. http://collection.artbma.org/emuseum/view/objects/asitem/search@/4/title-asc?t:state:flow=058e31f0-84cc-4235-ab42-5048aa8bc08f

"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Henri Matisse (1869–1954). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web. 21 June 2015. .

"Henri Matisse." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 20 June 2015.

"Henri Matisse." Collection Online. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF), 2015. Web. 21 June 2015.