Chasing Matisse - Art Exhibit Critique - Essay Example

“Chasing Matisse” - Art exhibit critique Henri Matisse was a French painter who painted some of the world’s most important paintings since the beginning of his career. The art piece “Chasing Matisse” was just one of his significant artistic works which was unveiled at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in mid September, 2013 and it will be showcased until June, 2014. With that mentioned, there are a number of different art works that can be used in a bid to describe each artistic work. For example; there are paintings, installation art, earth art, jewellery etc. For this case, the type of artwork that has been projected is a painting. Every piece of art has its own scene that best portrays a hidden message from the artist to the audience. Based on that aspect, the subject (scene) of the art exhibit can be described as a woman seated on a chair and there are some flowers that have been placed on a table at her left hand side. The woman seems to be in thought – she could be thinking of something important due to the reason that her head is positioned facing downwards. As a result, this is the main factor that contributes to the scene of the painting. Every scene is prone to have objects that have contributed to its final look. The painting “Chasing Matisse” has a number of objects that have contributed to its general outlook. These include: the chair- where the young woman has sat on; the table – where the flowers have been placed on. The combination of different objects in a painting scene is to portray a particular impression that an individual (the audience) can make out of it. As a result, the first impression that an individual can have from the painting “Chasing Matisse” is that the artist was portraying a woman who was sad, lonely or deep in thought. This is vividly revealed in the manner that her body has been positioned and the way that her face looks like. Colour is very essential in every art scene. The lack of colour may reveal a number of factors such as lack of feeling, lack of life etc. Additionally, the colours that have been selected matter a lot. This is due to the reason that colours are categorized into either warm colours or cool colours. Warm colours indicate depth while cool colours indicate the lack of depth. Some of the examples of warm colours that can be used in a painting include: Red, orange, brown, maroon, yellow and green. On the other hand, cool colours that can be used in any painting include the likes of blue, pink, light blue and violet. Based on the art exhibit “Chasing Matisse”, the colours that have been used include: red – for the woman’s hair; blue, orange and black – for her clothes; maroon and blue – for the flowers. In every artistic work, there are elements of shape, line and texture. Shape can be related to the use of space in the artistic work. It can also be related to the use of geometrical shapes such as squares, circles, rectangles etc. In addition to that, shapes can also be determined by attributes such as lines, texture, colour and value. Another element in art is the use of lines. In its simplest definition, lines refer to marks that are drawn in a bid to connect two points. It is also important to note that lines are characterised by aspects such as thickness, length and line direction. Texture refers to the feel of the surface under consideration. Texture always goes hand in hand with lines and colours. In the art exhibit, it can be stated that the element of shape has been used to reduce on space. For example; the chair that the woman is sitting on has occupied a majority of the space in the painting. In the art exhibit, lines have been used to give an in depth outline of the objects in the painting such as the flowers, the vase, the surface where the vase has been placed (table) and the chair that the woman has sat on. Lastly, texture is very critical in every piece of art. With that said, the art exhibit has a smooth feel. Just as colour is an essential element in an art piece, light saturation also goes hand in hand with colour. This can be better defined as the value and/ or tone of the art exhibit. “Chasing Matisse” has a slightly dark tone – this is due to the reason that the colours that have been used in the exhibit are mostly warm colours; for example red and brown. There are a number of art design elements and principles. These include: Unity and harmony; Balance; Focal Point; Proportion and Scale. Unity and harmony refers to the unification of all the art elements that have been incorporated in the art object. “Chasing Matisse” can be termed as being unified. This is due to the reason that majority of the elements such as shape, texture, light, colour have been equally utilized to ensure that they are in harmony with each other. Balance is a very important design principle. Without balance the art piece may turn out to have one element that is in excess of the other. A good example of this related to colour. The colours in the art exhibit have been balanced so as to achieve unification and harmony. Scale and proportion are used to ensure that the sizes of the objects are relatively in comparison to each other. The benefit of this would be emphasize on all the objects in the painting as well as bring focus/ attention to a particular point. If the artist would have projected the elements to be larger than they actually are, that would cause a chaotic scene. Each artistic work always has a theme behind it. For the case of “Chasing Matisse” the major theme that can be projected is that of solitude. This is because the woman in seated alone and she looks as if she is in deep thought. Lastly, the art exhibit under consideration is representational due to the fact that it projects and/ or represents a human being. It reminds me of important paintings in history like the Mona Lisa that was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Some of the creative traits that have dominated the art exhibit that I have chosen include the use of space, colours, lines and the principles of unity and balance. With regard to form, the art exhibit can be said to have utilized the preferred artistic elements such as colour, lines etc with the most appropriate balance. On the other hand, the art’s content has optimally reflected its intended purpose and meaning. Works cited Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Exhibition: “Chasing Matisse: American Moderns under the Influence”. 2013. Web. Retrieved from: http://new.artsmia.org/exhibition/chasing-matisse-american-moderns-under-the-influence/ Read More