Henri MatisseAnd Fauvism - Essay Example

Herchel Chipp’s book, Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics, communicates the artistic movement of Fauvism found in twentieth century Europe and specifically the works of Henri Matisse. Fauvism was characterized by paintings that used intensely vivid, non-naturalistic and exuberant colors. Although the style was essentially expressionist, it similarly featured landscapes in which forms were distorted. Through an analysis of Fauvism and its manifestation in Henri Matisse’s paintings, an in-depth illustration into Matisse’s work will be established by focusing on ideas relating to expression, line drawings, human expression, space, perspective and light. Matisse describes his drawings based on his vision of expressionism and the idea of passion that is “mirrored on the human face, or betrayed by a violent gesture”. (Chipp,132) The section, Notes of a Painter on his Drawing” was the resulting text, in which Matisse focused on his past works and present works, as he thought that he could never go back and change a painting that he had done. (Chipp, 132) Matisse demonstrates his value and appreciation towards the “old masters”, such as Signac, Denis and Blanche. (Chipp, 131) He synthesized their works with his own examinations of nature, as he claims in his own book, Matisse on Art: “to absorb the lessons of the masters and then to ‘forget’ them in order to arrive at a means of personal expression”. (Matisse, 129) Matisse further discusses the creation of space with regards to the objects that constitute them and their different planes in space, as he states: “in perspective, but in a perspective of feeling, in suggested perspective.” (Matisse, 130) The idea of a radiant space is parallel to intangible space that can be seen in his paintings also, corresponding to Fauvism’s use of space. (Chipp, 131) Matisse claims: “a drawing must have a power of expansion which can bring to life the space which surrounds it.” (Chipp, 132) Similarly, human emotions were critical to paintings, according to Matisse, as he suggests: “My line drawing is the purest and most direct translation of my emotion. The simplification of the medium allows that.” (Matisse, 130) However, he also suggests that “harmonies and dissonance of color can produce very pleasurable effects.” (Chipp, 132) Along with the differences of lighting, Matisse claims that his drawings generate light, which can be seen on a dull day or indirect light because they “light and value differences that quite clearly correspond to color.” (Matisse, 130) The Fauvist idea throughout the movement itself claimed to celebrate colors captured in naturalistic settings. Moreover, Matisse considers charcoal or stump drawings that allow him to concentrate on the character of the model, as her human expression becomes vivid in “surrounding light”. (Matisse, 131) Matisse reveals that his “jewels” or “arabesques” never overwhelm his drawings from the model, as he states that: “Well placed, they suggest the form or the value accents necessary to the composition of the drawing.” (Matisse, 131) Matisse comments on perspective in terms of line drawings and space with regards to drawing a female, as he claims: “my final line drawings always have their own luminous space, and the objects of which they are composed are on their different planes; thus, in perspective, but in a perspective of feeling, in suggested perspective.” (Matisse, 131) Matisse claims that when he paints the body of a woman, he endows it with “grace and charm”, but more than that is necessary. (Chipp, 132) Through this idea, Matisse is communicating that the perspective of which his line drawings can be seen are always in their own space, which shows his overall object as its pair because of its own surface that it comprises. Matisse’s link to fauvism comes as he says: “I prefer, by insisting upon its essentials, to discover its more enduring character and content, even at the risk of sacrificing some of its pleasing qualities.” (Chipp, 133) He suggests this after comparing impressionist artists, such as Monet and Sisley who had vibrating sensations. (Chipp, 132) Consequently, Matisse’s models, or human figures, are not extras in his works, for him they represent his overall theme. (Matisse, 131) He depends on his model, as he expresses his concentration on a pose: “I depend absolutely on my model, whom I observe at liberty, and then I decide on the pose which best suits her nature. When I take a new model, it is from the unselfconscious attitudes she takes when she rests that I intuit the pose that will best suit her, and then I become the slave of that pose.” (Matisse, 131) For Matisse, there is an emotional bond that he attaches to his model and their forms, which he believes are not perfect, however the lines “orchestrated” over the canvas is what he believes are the special values of its architecture. (Matisse, 132) Basically, he desires to abandon the literal representation of movement in order to reach a higher level of beauty. (Chipp, 133) By the example of a man with two different expressions as seen by the lower jaw, the way the glasses are placed, the ear screwed into the skull and the tension of his gaze, Matisse shows how the man is enhanced, as his true personality shows. (Chipp, 138) Matisse suggests that the conditions have not changed, and yet the by dividing “a piece of paper into spaces by a simple line of almost even breadth”, truth makes the drawing. (Chipp, 139) Through Herchel Chipp’s book, Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics, the idea of a ‘human side’, or emotions can be related to paintings and drawings alike, as Matisse’s ability to work in terms of perspective, space, light, and human expression is developed without a theory. Matisse finishes his words in Notes of a Painter on his Drawing, by claiming that either one has it or they do not, with reference to the “human side”. (Matisse, 133) Fauvism clearly played an important role for Matisse, in terms of his ability to explore colors and communicate a space that relates to one’s perspective. Matisse’s role in the Fauvist movement is clearly depicted through his own words about his works and about others’. He lastly claims that “Nature arouses feelings” (Chipp, 140) and the senses are appealed to through its color. Works Cited Chipp, Herchel. Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. Berkely: University of California Press, 1968. Matisse, Henri. Matisse on Art. London: University of California Press Ltd., 1995. Read More