Henri Matisse Influence

The art and influence of French artist Henri Matisse is greater than anything I could ever even begin to write. As one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, the works of Matisse are recognized around the world and across time for their colorful imagery and modern flair. In fact, he helped to build and shape the modern art movement of the early 1900’s. Matisse is arguably most well known for his Fauvism, impressionism, and use of bright colors. But it is only when one digs deeper into his collection that they find a more realistic and subtle approach from the artist. This more traditional technique can be observed in Matisse’s White Plumes. Painted in Nice, France in 1919, White Plumes is part of Matisse’s “Nice Period.”
In his early years of painting, Matisse was targeted by art critics and patrons alike for his Fauvist style. Disregarding reality, Matisse would use vibrant and unmixed paints for many of these colorful pieces. This method earned him, and similar French artists the nickname, “Les Fauves,” meaning, “The Wild Beasts.” What made the Fauvist paintings so radical was not only the color, but the brushstrokes as well. Breaking away from the impressionists of the time, with their precise and calculated strokes, painted individually until they came together to form one complete image; the Fauvists painted with broad and explicit brushstrokes. Matisse, and fellow French artist André Derain, birthed Fauvism while painting together in the coastal town of Collioure. While painting White Plumes; however, Matisse utilized darker and more subtle earth tones. The pallette selected for this piece seems to go hand in hand with the more naturalistic technique in which it is painted. The deep reds of the background provide a stark contrast against the lightly colored skin and gowns of Antoinette, and passively set the mood. In his earlier Fauve paintings, Matisse relied on change in color, rather than shading, to create a sense of space. But in White Plumes, a small amount of shading is introduced to replicate the light, shadows, and depth of the
In fact, it seemed to be a sort of a trend in the art community at this point in time. Another artist who was a part of the “return to order” was Matisse’s long time rival and friend, Pablo Picasso. Famously known for his abstract and cubist works, Picasso entered his Classicism Period during the early 1920’s. Similar to Matisse, he painted more traditional and realistic pieces during this time and utilized more subtle tones. One example of Picasso’s shift in style during his Classicism Period is an extraordinarily rare portrait of his then wife, Olga Khokhlova. Painted in 1923, one might never even guess that it is a work of Pablo Picasso. For this particular painting, he threw his abstract tendencies out the window and created, some might say, his most classical piece. To show just how conservative Picasso’s Classicism Period was, one can compare this portrait of Olga sitting in a chair to another one of his paintings of a similar scene entitled, Seated Woman. In Seated Woman, Picasso uses brighter colors and very definitive borders, which could be compared to Matisse's use of unmixed paints and divulgent brushstrokes in his Fauvist works, to show a total lack of interest in the reality of the scene. But in the portrait of Olga, Picasso attempts to capture the scene in the most accurate and precise way possible, paying the utmost attention to every detail.