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Modernisms 1900-1980
Course: Modernisms 1900-1980 > Unit 2
Lesson 1: Fauvism and Matisse- A beginner's guide to Fauvism
- Fauve Landscapes and City Views
- André Derain, The Dance
- Matisse, Luxe, calme et volupté
- Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure
- Matisse, Bonheur de Vivre
- Matisse, Dance I
- Matisse, The Red Studio
- Matisse, The Red Studio
- Matisse, Goldfish
- Matisse, "The Blue Window"
- Matisse, Piano Lesson
- Matisse, Piano Lesson
- Matisse, The illustrated book, “Jazz”
- Conserving Henri Matisse's "The Swimming Pool"
- Fauvism and Matisse
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Matisse, "The Blue Window"
Learn about Matisse’s search for essential form in The Blue Window. Created by The Museum of Modern Art.
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- at, is an image of a sliding panel in a frame. I cannot find what I thought I heard as described a 'clode'? It was mentioned that the black box in the painting might have been this tool which minimizes color? Could you please explain? thank you 1:36(11 votes)
- It's spelled "claude" glass and was a common device for artists in the 19th century. Here is one example: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78676/claude-glass-unknown/(15 votes)
- Do they still make black mirrors, or was it just something you had to put together yourself?(6 votes)
- Yes, they are still made. But you can of course still make your own one relatively easily: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-Claude-Glass-or-Black-Mirror/(4 votes)
- This is one of my favorite pieces by Matisse. (I have an interest in art and have seen many of his works.) I like it because of the beautiful dreariness created in the canvas, the scene, which reminds me of some vivid childhood memories, and the careful relations of the objects, but most of all I just like it for how it looks, how you feel when viewing it.
My only question is, what are the black things in the celadon pot in the blue stripe on the left? Are those flowers shown inside the bowl, or painting on the bowl? Please reply.(2 votes)- I would side with painting on the bowl, since the dark marks go beyond the profile of the vase on the left and right as though the marks on the vessel where actually in low relief--raised from the surface. If they were supposed to represent flowers inside a translucent vessel, they could not escape the profile of the vase. However, Matisse was also not strictly following such optical rules, so I would not deny that he could have intended the viewer to see it as flowers inside the pot.(2 votes)
- What inspired Matisse to use the different shades of blue used in the painting as well as that specific view??(2 votes)
- he wonted the color to be monochromatic . To give the sence of sadness or drirey(1 vote)
- Matisse's paintings seem to be very simple and monochromatic. What is the effect of this technique?(2 votes)
- what the alignment meant to do? what's the significance of blue ... was he blue? I wound expect misalignment everywhere then ...(2 votes)
- I think the alignment shows that he planned it out, that he knew what he was doing.
as for it being blue: I don't know. it is a nice color, though.(1 vote)
- why does she bring up " this wonderful blue strip"? How is it important?(1 vote)
- Matisse is one of my favourite painters so far... love the colour!(1 vote)
- I have a question about the sliding frame how does it work in the 19th century,like how did the artists use it and how did it help them when it came to paint pictures.
Thank You(1 vote)
Video transcript
Anne: I'm in MOMA's storage with
Henri Matisse's blue window. Matisse had first made a name for himself as a painter of these
brilliantly colored canvases with very discrete
structuring brush strokes. In this work of 1913 you see
him at a different moment. The mood, the overall color
palette is more subdued, and there is a clear
sense of Matisse engaging with the Cubist geometries of
his contemporaries of the moment. Matisse's overarching goals at
this moment remained constant to arrive somehow at the
essential character of things. This is, in fact, a very
reduced version of the view of his studio that he saw
out of his bedroom window. When you first look at
it the overall impression is of this expanse of blue, of this
virtually monochromatic canvas. Several scholars believe
that in creating this picture Matisse used what was known as
a Claude, or a black mirror. In fact, this little square in the
lower right of the composition may be a stylized representation
of this artist's tool. They were a device that eliminates
all sensations of color,
probably a very useful tool for him in stylizing, reducing,
simplifying what he saw before him. When you look at this work
with x-rays for example, you can see that up in the tree areas
he gradually eliminated details. The more you look at it and begin to look
at the relations of one part to another you realize that a major
reason for its beauty is that Matisse has so carefully aligned
virtually every element in this picture. Everything in some way lines up. The top of the statue with
this black line of the window or the top of the lamp, or this
band that may have been a curtain may be a wall, but that Matisse
extends down into what really becomes this wonderful abstract blue stripe.