Matisse, Henri

Green Stripe (Madame Matisse), Henri Matisse, 1905... 

Painting by Henri Rousseau, early nineteenth century Painting by Henri Matisse, early twentieth century Sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, early twentieth century Sculpture by Edgar Degas, early twentieth century Wallpaper by William Morris, late nineteenth century... 

Some artists, such as Henri Matisse, chose to use bold colors not natural to the subject, distortion, simplification, and visual texture to describe their ideas. Because of the shocking effect of the works of Matisse and the works of other expressive artists of the early twentieth century, the artists were given the name fauves, meaning wild beasts. Others, such as Pablo Picasso, chose to break down their subjects into simple geometric forms, calling their form of abstraction cubism. Still others, such as Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte, chose to draw upon dreams and fantasy to express their views in a style called surrealism. 

Fauvism 1900 to 1920. Some of the artists involved in the fauvist movement were Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Raoul Dufy. They used bold colors that were not natural to the subject and made use of visual texture to enrich the painting surface. They painted simplified shapes without realistic shading, and their paintings had flat areas of color. These wild beasts broke the rules and shocked the art world. 

Artists of the 20th Century Henri Matisse. 50 min. crystalproductions.com, 2004. DVD. 

Figure 2-6. Human faces in artistic expression, (a) Henri Matisse, Portrait of Lydia Delektroskaya (reproduced by permission from the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg) (b) Jeno Barcsay, Woman s head (used with permission from Ms. Barcsay) (c) George Buday, Miklos Radnoti, wood-cut, 1969 (used with permission from George Buday, R. E.) (d) Buddha sculpture in Japan (e) St. Peter at the St. Peter s Square, Rome (f) Bust of D. I. Mendeleev in front of Moscow State University (d e f, photographs by the authors).

Figure 3-45. Merry-go-round in Bologna, Italy (photograph by the authors) and Henri Matisse s Dance (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, reproduced by permission).

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