A Contemplative Look At Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse was a French artist, leader of the Fauve group, regarded as one of the great formative figures in 20th-century art, and a master of the use of color and form to convey emotional expression. Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in northern France on December 31, 1869. The son of a middle-class family, he studied and began to practice law. In 1890, however, while recovering slowly from an attack of appendicitis, he became intrigued by the practice of painting. Unlike so many great art masters, Matisse did not begin painting as a young prodigious artist. At first, Matisse’s father had intended for his son to become a lawyer. His sensitive health throughout ...
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Matisse's father perhaps played a less influential role, but never the less, a significant one. He was stricter and more disciplinary, but for the most part he also supported his son during times of financial and emotional hardship.
On a personal level, Matisse was a kindhearted and mischievous person. He never gave in to doubt, despair, or impossible ideas, although he often had good reason to do so. He never hesitated to explore new projects even though they seemed wrong or upsetting by other artists. For example, when Matisse was working on the Vence Chapel, Picasso was thoroughly upset that Matisse, an unbeliever, was undertaking a large-scale religious project. However, Matisse did not hesitate in any way to explore all possibilities. Matisse was the type of artist that didn’t follow the rules, but one who created them. At a young age, Matisse was a tall, skinny, and solid looking individual. Into his later years, Matisse could often be seen wearing a tunic and ...
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he met Camoin, Manguin, Marquet and Jean Puy. Matisse experimented with several mediums and styles. He also studied more contemporary art, especially that of the impressionists, and he began to experiment, earning a reputation as a rebellious member of his studio classes. Matisse's true artistic liberation, in terms of the use of color to render forms and organize spatial planes, came about first through the influence of the French painters Paul Gauguin and Paul Cezanne and the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, whose work he studied closely beginning about 1899. Then, in 1903 and 1904, Matisse encountered the pointillist painting of Henri Edmond Cross and Paul Signac. Cross and Signac were ...
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"A Contemplative Look At Henri Matisse." Essayworld.com. February 4, 2006. Accessed April 26, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Contemplative-Look-At-Henri-Matisse/40698.
"A Contemplative Look At Henri Matisse." Essayworld.com. February 4, 2006. Accessed April 26, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/A-Contemplative-Look-At-Henri-Matisse/40698.
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