Devin Ray

David Fuentes

ARTS1301- W02 ART & SOCIETY

23 November 2020

Matisse & Women

Henri Matisse is a famous 20th-century artist. He was a draughtsman whose work

includes printmaking and sculptor, but he is known foremost as a painter (The Music). In his

1910 oil painting, titled ​La Musique, ​Matisse creates a beautiful scene of two women listing to

music. The title of this French artists’ paintings translates to ​The Music​ (The Music).

Additionally, The oil painting is on a square 115-centimeter by 115-centimeter canvas (The

Music). Matisse fills every centimeter with color and life. This painting was commissioned by

Sergei Shchukin and hung in Moscow (The Music). There was no preparation or sketches done

beforehand on the canvas, yet the painting appears elementally precise (The Music).

In consideration to the formal elements of art, Matisse uses a wide variety of types of

lines in ​La Musiqe. ​The two figures are defined by curved lines that accentuate the positions and

shapes of women’s bodies. More fluid and curved lines also highlight the guitar and seat of the

women on the left. Moreover, there are many different patterns in the background. There are

clearly defined zig-zag lines that create a rug under the women on the left. Horizontal and

vertical lines create a grid and lively curved lines that create the mellow leaf pattern at the top of

the painting. The wealth of both organized fluid and hard lines in this painting complement each

other nicely. I enjoy how flat the painting, considering the dimension and shape. Some of the
shapes and patterns in the background of the painting are simple, like the geometric grid and

rigid zigzags. However, these patterns are complemented with organic and irregular shapes like

the leaves and the shapes of the women.

There is not high detail depth or foreshortening in this two-dimension painting, and there

is a linear perspective suggested due to the overlapping of the women and their seats and the

ground. This painting doesn’t depict the passage of time, yet there is some implied motion in the

painting because the woman appears to be strumming the guitar. Lighting is not the main

element of this painting in the way that shading and dimension aren’t really present. Color on the

other hand, in combination with the strong simple shapes, highlights the liveliness and simplicity

of this painting. Primary colors are utilized strongly in the women’s clothing and the

background. The blocked colors are bold and the secondary color green in the background makes

the primary colors pop. There is a pleasant balance and contrast of warm and cool colors in this

painting overall. Additionally, while the colors are contrasting and stark there is a harmony to the

variety of colors and their shade.

There is some even and flat paint application like the grid and sheet music, but the

majority of the painting has a texture where you can see the brushstrokes and uneven application

of color. Perhaps for more contrast, on the round seat underneath the woman on the left, we can

see an x and o pattern. Behind the woman on the right, we similarly see a pattern or texture in

white but on top of her red rug.

Before evaluating this piece I want to preface that I was introduced to this painting

because my friends had purchased a tapestry with it on it for their living room. I believe the

tapestry is bigger than its actual size of the real painting, but I was able to examine the art on a

larger scale. As a painter and mainly portraitist, I find human figures to be the most dynamic to
paint. When using formal art criticism theory I do not find the figures or background in this

painting to highly detailed or realistic like much portraiture that I like. However, I do find the

figures in this painting set the ambiance and their simplistic form is tranquil. I admire this

painting for the artistic and female energy it makes me feel. A lot of beautiful male painted

artwork of women is lued or exaggerated. I find Matisse’s depiction of these women to be in

extremely good taste and appropriate. He paints the women so simply, in consideration to their

shape and color, but doesn’t sacrifice any of their beauty. Their hands and feet are interestingly

placed on the painting and energetic. Her feet arch playfully and her hands strum the guitar. I

would hope this painting reflects Matisse’s point of view of women. If it were, I would believe

he thinks women are beautiful and they make beautiful art. Using contextual theories of art

criticism, I would argue this piece may have some feminist context. Feminism and women’s

suffrage had already been in France since 1906 (Greenwald). However, women continued to

fight for the right to vote through the 1900s, and this painting showcases women vibrantly and

tastefully (Greenwald). Research pointed me towards much controversy about Matisse’s

feminism. Artists today continue to debate if his art really helped women and how much

feminism actually went into his pieces (Baker). I argue this painting in specific is clearly an

appreciation of women and a positive display of femininity.

Overall I love this painting. I love the serenity it creates and I can hear the serene music

the women are listing to. Whether Matisse was a feminist or not he painted women beautifully

and I find comfort in his paintings feminine energy. His style is simplistic but effective. His

colors are eyecatching but not overwhelming. Matisse understands balance and perhaps this

painting can help us find some for ourselves just by looking and listing to it.
 Work Cited

Baker, Kenneth. “How Did Matisse See His Odalisques? / Curator Stirs up the Debate

about the Artist's Depictions of Women.” ​SFGATE​, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Feb.

2012,

www.sfgate.com/books/article/How-Did-Matisse-See-His-Odalisques-Curator-2981522.p

hp.

Greenwald, Lisa, et al. “What We Must Learn from the History of French Feminism.”

Public Seminar​, 5 Mar. 2019,

publicseminar.org/2019/03/what-we-must-learn-from-the-history-of-french-femin

sm/.

The Music (La Musique), 1939 by Henri Matisse​, www.henrimatisse.org/the-music.jsp.