Expressionism Henri Matisse Master of Color

1. April 15, 2010 ExpressionismHenri Matisse Master of Color

2. Expressionism • Expressionism is a term used to describe the art period from 1905-1920 • Expressionism is the opposite of Impressionism, which emphasized painting what the artist observed • The goals were to express emotions through the use of vivid colors and strong lines, rather than capturing a likeness or reality • Henri Matisse wrote: • “Creativity takes courage”

3. Henri Matisse • Matisse lived in France from 1869-1954 • When Matisse was young, he became sick with appendicitis. He had to stay in bed for a long time. His mother gave him paints and brushes to give him something to do. He knew then that he wanted to be an artist • Matisse is known for his simple and colorful paintings and collages • Henri Matisse worked on his art for over 60 years and became one of the greatest artists of the Modern Era

5. Matisse’s style • In 1905, Matisse became the leader of a group of painters called the Fauves, which in French meant the "wild beasts” because people thought their paintings used intense color and wild lines • Color for Matisse was like music, and he often said that he heard "colors sing"

9. Matisse in later years • When he was in his 80's, Matisse became ill and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair • Though he could not stand up to paint, he could cut paper • He wrote: • "The paper cutouts allow me to draw with color. Instead of drawing an outline and then filling in with color, I draw directly in color... It is not a starting point, it is a completion."

10. The Jazz Series • This series of paper cutouts used bright colors and abstract shapes to convey their meaning • Like the music, Jazz is unpredictable, yet beautiful

17. Icarus • Perhaps the best known collage of the Jazz collection is Icarus, which is based on the Greek myth • In the legend, the boy Icarus and his father, Deadulus, are trapped on an island by the king as a punishment for disloyalty • Deadulus fashions wings to escape, made from feathers and wax • Although the father tells his son not to get too close to the sun, Icarus doesn't listen • His wings begin to melt in the heat of the sun, and he falls into the sea • This is a picture of the disobedient son, as interpreted by Matisse, falling to earth

19. The Swimming Pool - 1952 • Commenting on The Swimming Pool, his largest cutout, Matisse said, • "I have always adored the sea, and now that I can no longer go for a swim, I have surrounded myself with it.” • This nearly fifty-four-foot-long collage of blue bathers on a white rectangular band was designed for the walls of Matisse's dining room

20. The Swimming Pool - continued • Read from right to left, beginning and ending with a starfish, the forms of the diving or swimming people dissolve into the splashing water • Each bather flows into the next

23. Matisse’s Art Vocabulary • Collage - an artistic arrangement of materials and objects pasted or glued over a surface • Unity: an arrangement in which all the parts seem related or unified • Positive space - Positive space is the space occupied by a subject in a picture • Negative space - Negative space is the space that is not your subject in a picture. It is everything else. It is defined by the edges of the positive space and the frame. • For example, when one cuts a shape out of the middle of a sheet of paper, the cut out shape is the positive space. The rest of the paper, a rectangle with a hole in it, is the negative space  

24. Matisse’s Art Vocabulary • Abstract - An abstract artwork will not look real, but it might remind you of something real. Abstract artwork might distort, exaggerate or simplify real things • Realistic - A realistic artwork looks “real,” it shows recognizable places, people, and things. It is also known as “representational art,” because it represents real things • Organic shape - An organic shape is explained as a shape that appears in nature. Examples are the shape of a leaf, or the shape of your shadow • Geometric shape - A geometric shape is a shape that can "easily" be defined using mathematical formulas. Examples of geometric shapes include squares, circles, triangle, spheres, pyramids, and cylinders 

25. Realistic or Abstract?

26. Organic or Geometric?