Henri Matisse (redirected from Interior A Nice)

Matisse, Henri 

(full Name Henri-Emile-Benolt Matisse). Born Dec. 31, 1869, in Le Cateau, in Picardy; died Nov. 3, 1954, in Cimiez, near Nice. French painter, graphic artist, and sculptor.

Matisse studied in Paris at the Académie Julian under A. W. Bouguereau (from 1891), at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs (from 1893), and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under G. Moreau (1895–99). He turned out copies of works of French and Dutch old masters. Matisse was subsequently influenced by the neo-impressionists (mainly P. Signac), P. Gauguin, Oriental Arab art, and, to some extent, ancient Russian icon painting (having visited Moscow in 1911, he was one of the first in the West to appreciate the artistic merits of icons).

Between 1905 and 1907, Matisse was a leader of the fauvists. At about the same time, he developed a new type of artistic expression, using a simplified, strong yet fluent line, rhythmic composition, and the contrasting juxtaposition of a few zones of color. During this period the artist used intense local colors (the murals for the Moscow residence of S. I. Schchukin Dance and Music, 1910, Hermitage, Leningrad) or colors that were semi-transparent and revealed the texture of the canvas (The Artist’s Studio, 1911, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow).

Matisse’s works executed between 1915 and 1920 are marked by a restraint and severity that reveal the influence of cubism (The Piano Lesson, 1916-17, Museum of Modern Art, New York). His works of the 1920’s, in contrast, are characterized by a realistic approach and by softer and more varied colors (the Odalisque cycle). In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Matisse summed up the innovations of the preceding periods, combining the fauvist search for free decorativeness with an analytically clear composition (the frieze The Dance II, 1931-32, Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pa., USA) and a subtle palette (Plum Tree Branch, 1948, private collection, New York).

Matisse’s works all share common features. Seeking to juxtapose the bustling intensity of 20th-century life with the eternally positive elements of living, the artist recreated in his works life’s joyful side—the world of never-ending dance, the serene calm of idyllic scenes, the decorativeness of rugs and textiles, and the sparkle of fruits, vases, bronze vessels, and statuettes. Matisse strove to bring the viewer into this sphere of ideal images and dreams and to impart to him a sense of peace or curious uneasiness.

The emotional impact of Matisse’s paintings is achieved primarily through intensity of color, through the musicality of linear rhythms that suggest intrinsic movement of forms, and through the interdependence of the pictorial components. Because of this interdependence, objects at times seem to be transformed into arabesques or spots of pure color (Red Fish, 1911; Still Life With Shell, 1940—both in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts).

Matisse was also a graphic artist. Working in pen, pencil, and charcoal, he did etchings, line engravings, and lithographs. Matisse drew on white or black backgrounds fine lines that were sometimes broken and sometimes long and flowing (the cycle Themes and Variations, charcoal and pen, 1941; illustrations for Mallarmé’s Poésies [etchings, 1932], A. de Montherlant’s Pastphaé [line engraving, 1944], and Ronsard’s Les Amours [lithograph, 1948]. In the 1940’s the artist made a number of collages out of colored paper (the cycle Jazz, 1944-47).

Matisse first developed an interest in sculpture at the outset of the 20th century. He sculptured more frequently in the 1920’s and 1930’s (the relief Back of a Female Nude, bronze, 1930, Museum of Art, Zurich). Matisse’s last work was the design for the interior of the Chapel of the Rosaries (including the stained-glass windows) in Vence, near Nice (1953).

Although Matisse did not address himself to the specific events of his time and did not respond directly to the social upheavals of the epoch, the cheerfulness and unswerving optimism of his works demonstrated the artist’s humanistic values. Matisse, a member of a progressive circle of French intellectuals and a fighter for peace, sympathized with the USSR. The best collections of the artist’s works are in museums in Moscow and Leningrad.

WORKS

Sbornik statei o tvorchestve. Moscow, 1958. (Translated from French and German.)

REFERENCES

Romm, A. G. Matiss. Moscow, 1935.
Alpatov. M. V. Matiss. Moscow, 1969.
Matiss: Zhivopis’. Skul’ptura. Grafika. Pis’ma [Catalog of works in museums of the USSR]. Leningrad, 1969.
Fry, R. Henri Matisse. New York, 1935.
Barr, A. H. Matisse: His Art and His Public. New York, 1951.
Leymarie, J., H. Read, and W. S. Liebermann. Henri Matisse [Catalog of the H. Matisse Retrospective]. Berkeley, 1966.
Henri Matisse, Exposition du centenaire. Paris, 1970.

V. A. KALMYKOV