Matisse's Blue Nude IV

907 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Compare artworks

Myriads of colors and shapes abound my sight as I try to take in and digest all the insatiable nights Matisse had spent fiddling with his stacks of cutouts, masterfully orchestrating them into parts of the canvas. However, out of all Matisse’s cutouts in the fourteen rooms of Tate Modern’s exhibit, Matisse’s Blue Nude IV is the most strikingly beautiful to me. Perhaps to many other viewers, colors intrigue them. To me, Matisse’s simplicity in Blue Nudes IV is even more intriguing. Walking into room nine from room eight, where I saw the Creole Dancer, I noticed an immense difference simply in the room itself. In room nine, the main colors I realized were just two: blue from the cutouts of Blue Nudes and the vanilla-white of the canvas and walls. …show more content…

As I exited room nine onto the next, I could not help but wonder if Matisse underwent sexual tension. I wondered if that was why he made the woman figure solely blue and why her body is contorted away from the viewer -- though she is physically up close, she also appears distant. Blue Nudes are not the only portraits of women created by Matisse. A previous painting also named The Blue Nude was created by Matisse 45 years before he made the cutouts. From the dialogue between Matisse’s assistant Jacqueline Duhême, and Juliette Rizzi and Flavia Frigeri in Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs, it seems as if Matisse desires control over women. Does Matisse feel threatened by women? Could the woman figure perhaps be Jacqueline Duhême herself? After all, Jacqueline Duhêm, who also sporadically modeled for him, tells Rizzi and Frigeri that Matisse enjoyed more of his time with her instead of his other model Lydia Delectorskaya. Comparing Blue Nude IV to his past paintings and even to his past cutouts, Matisse’s abstract expressionism grows clearer. Blue Nude IV was finished two years before Matisse passed away. His cutout, The Parakeet and The Mermaid, incorporates a similar blue nude which represents the mermaid. In this cutout, however, he brings natural elements into the picture, transitioning from solitude (Blue Nude IV) to livelihood. According to Tate Modern’s information guide, Matisse’s frail condition prevented him from venturing outdoors, leading him to create his own

Show More
Related

  • Morisot And Mary Cassatt: A Visual Analysis

    2028 Words  | 5 Pages

    “In spite of their economic status, Morisot and Cassatt had many obstacles to overcome in establishing themselves as artists, and they experienced more discouragement than anyone would be likely to guess from looking at their works. Not surprisingly, they concentrated on familiar, domestic, themes. ” (Francis E. Hyslop) Interestingly enough, at a quick glance their paintings can look the same, but their representation of women and the message they try to convey is remarkably contrasting. Mary Cassatt focused on the “real” definition of woman. She wanted her audience to view women as strong and independent human beings who are completely capable of pursuing anything they set their mind too. Mary Cassatt made her audience think, she wanted to make a quiet scandal, she wanted to speak through her figures. In Mary Cassatt’s The loge (1882), she illustrates two elegantly dressed women enjoying a night at the theatre. Usually, men are the ones that would go out without their wives and enjoy a casual or elegant social scene while women socialize in their houses drinking tea and watching their kids play. “Cassatt’s new images include representations of women as independent public people; women pursuing interests which are not directed toward the needs of others; and women who enjoy the company of other women.” (Yeh) This painting illustrates how women are more than capable to socialize in a public

    Read More

  • Montclair Art Museum Report

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    The room was set up by having paintings on the walls with a sculpture directly in the center. This was the focal point of the room, Soundsuit, by Nick Cave. This piece was rich in color and character and I was immediately drawn to it. When I rounded the corner of the gallery there were many extravagant pieces such as Untitled #8 (2014) by Mickalene Thomas and Woman Under Willow (2014). Both pieces are inspired by Matisse, rich in color, and represent woman. The American gallery does a good job transitioning from one piece to another because each work is similar in some aspects. This gallery was less organized and different mediums were presented all throughout. There was a traditional quilt, Tar Beach 2 (1990) displayed in the same area as mediums such as wooden panels, oil pastel, and the metal hood of a car. This gallery and collection inspired by Matisse displayed many breathtaking works that I enjoyed seeing.

    Read More

  • Paul Delaroche's Portrayal Of Women In The 19th Century

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    The painting depicts a mother and her four children, who are all leaning on her as she looks down solemnly, her tired, despondent expression suggests she felt trapped in her roles as being a mother and a wife. The woman and her children are clearly the focal point of the artwork as the bright colours used to paint them stand out impeccably against the dull, lifeless colours of the background. This painting appears to be centred around the ideology that women are home-keepers, whose main role is to satisfy and assist her husband while simultaneously minding the children and keeping the home tidy and ready for his return. The social consequences of this artwork could have been that the woman could have been berated for not taking pleasure out of being a mother and raising her children, as a woman should. She could have been made redundant as her husband may have felt as though she is no longer useful if she couldn’t adequately adhere to her roles as a mother and a

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing The Kneeling Woman And Two Women

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    Spending time looking at art is a way of trying to get into an artists’ mind and understand what he is trying to tell you through his work. The feeling is rewarding in two distinctive ways; one notices the differences in the style of painting and the common features that dominate the art world. When comparing the two paintings, The Kneeling Woman by Fernand Leger and Two Women on a Wharf by Willem de Kooning, one can see the similarities and differences in the subjects of the paintings, the use of colors, and the layout

    Read More

  • Griselda Pollock's Impressionism

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Women in Black at the Opera (1880) by Cassatt, the woman character has an active and aggressive looking. This is a major point of the painting because, during the ninetieth century, women were not normally portrayed with the “power of the gaze.” In this particular painting, the woman is holding the opera-glasses, the stereotypical instrument of male specular power. In the other hand, The Loge (1874) by Renoir portrays a lovely woman at the opera and positions her clearly as the object of the masculine viewer’s gaze, both inside and outside the paintings. Even though she is the focal point of the painting, it is the male companion who has the privilege of holding the opera glasses, hence, the power of the gaze. This clearly shows how women and men artists could represent different points of view, even in the same context. Consequently, how the meaning of same space or location can change depending on the role, power, and activity of the character that is being

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Johannes Vermeer's Woman In Blue Reading A Letter

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    In an empty room at the Timken Museum of Art hangs one of the most iconic paintings of Johannes Vermeer, the astonishing painting, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. In the painting a pale woman’s stands patiently while reading a letter. The woman appears to be wearing a blue jacket and a long gray skirt, and only gazing at the letter, ignoring all of her surroundings. The top right of the painting seems to be a map of the Netherlands, which attracts the viewer because it explains the setting of where the painting took place. The blue jacket around the woman’s torso appears to exaggerate the woman’s stomach, giving the impression that she might be pregnant. The blue chairs resemble a sign of absence as if she lives alone. The light on the top left shines on her face which enhances the viewer’s view of the woman’s facial expression. Johannes Vermeer’s interpretation of complex colors, the light, and her body language inflicts a persuasion on the viewer that the women is traumatized by the news in the letter.

    Read More

  • Henri Matisse Research Paper

    2090 Words  | 5 Pages

    His styles and techniques were so particular and well-liked, that he succeeded regardless of the trends going on around him; The Dance (1910) being the perfect example, for it was loved and hated by many. By the 1920's, he was increasingly noticed as an upholder of the classical tradition in French painting. He was appreciated for bringing that traditional style painting into the modern age and not allowing it to die out like many other artistic traditions had.11 Even though he had been firmly criticized for how he painted, he was still respected for his eclectic style of line and brushwork. Matisse dreamt of, "an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling subject matter" (MA, 38).12 He did this by painting things with simple detail, and also with a light, airy, feel. He wanted to convey the message of classical art, as well as very modern styles of art. As he was influenced by many, he, later on, influenced other great modern artists. He carefully prepared his works but chose colors spontaneously and freely, this is what he called instinct. Like his art, Matisse's career is tightly consolidated. In the context of his development as an artist, his illustrations of the nude females in The Dance (1910), have quite a different significance than judgmental commentators give

    Read More

  • The Bedroom By Vincent Van Gogh

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    As previously pointed out the piece is full of many vibrant colors, like the floors a dull, muted yet dark brown that is accented with the pale almost teal colored shade of green, primarily in the far end on the floor. The glass on the window in the back has both light greens and yellow shades next to each other, yellow on the right side and the light green colors, covering more of the glass on most of the windowpanes, on the left side. The walls are a light blue with the occasional bundle of white lines or streaks of white. Both of the doors that are partially visible are similar shades of blue, one of them has blotches of a brownish grey color. The other door has a different colored doorframe, a green stripe on the left side, which is immediately followed by a white stripe.

    Read More

  • David Alfaro Siqueiros: Proletarian Mother

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    He is known how to combine three main colors and balance it to his artwork, green tone combined with red tone on her clothes represent that a woman is one of a lower class in society at this time, brown tone is a background color bring to viewer a heavy feeling, and this color was emphasized to face of the woman a little bit of sadness, a little bit of hopelessness in her life and her children. In this artwork, he used a rectangular shape of a wall and circle shapes for a child. They both give a viewer feeling about pressure and straitened for women. If we are noticing that in this artwork has leading lines. This line comes from three of her kids, it is creating a triangle.

    Read More

  • Pan Yuliang The Impossible Nude Analysis

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    In fact little of her work alludes to her personal life and that which does is rarely mournful or romantic. For example, Pan’s Nude by a Window (1946) is a self-portrait which depicts Pan staring at a photograph of her husband Pan Zanhua. The 2006 Christie’s auction catalogue for this piece comments that “the relaxed yet elegant pose of the subject, the painting’s thoughtful mood, and her longing gaze at the photo beside her all contribute to a sense of the loneliness of a creative artist in a foreign land.” While the richly woven layering and vivid coloration of the furnishings, both typical of her style in the 1940s, highlights by contrast the softness of the human form, insinuation of loneliness is an over-reading. The posed, angular shape of the body and its dominance despite the weight of the background suggest an evocation of strength, rather than weakness, mindfulness rather than nostalgia. The nude form has a cogency lacking in the simplistic depiction of the flowers and furnishings, the glowing green tone applied to the left side of the body, reflecting the vibrant green of the chair, serves to accentuate female form from the point of the pedicured foot to the stiff extension of the arms. Because she appears to be performing, the gaze is shifted; she is not gazing at the photograph, rather she is posing for the simultaneous gaze of the audience and the man pictured. Overall, Nude by a Window is far from depicting a woman made frail by passion or sorrow. Though does raise interesting questions about the male

    Read More

  • Ways Of Seeing Venus And Cupid

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Enrique Simonet’s reproduction, the three goddesses stand slightly off center and are taking turns showing their naked bodies to a man watching them in the foreground. This scene has been recreated hundreds of times, specifically because it fulfills the fantasy of the viewer, the arousing idea of three beautiful and naked women trying to win the affection of the viewer. Thus, forcing the women to become submissive to the man in order to win his affections. The sexual passion from that painting is not found in the women painted, but in viewer: “Women are there to feed an appetite, not to have any of their own.” (Ways of Seeing 55).

    Read More

  • Henri Matisse

    2595 Words  | 6 Pages

    The iconography of the picture could represent art in the view of the fauvists. Fauvists wanted to be free from tradition and natural colors. They wanted to be free to explore their world of colors as they saw fit. Fauvists and expressionists did not like to be held to strict rules when it came to painting. It could be that Le Bonheur de Vivre was a state in which they where trying to reach, but in reality could get never get there. On the other hand, could it be a place where they could only reach in their dreams? Critics have struggled with the interpretation of Matisse’s painting since the first display. That may have been Matisse’s meaning after all.

    Read More

  • Stillness Seeking

    2451 Words  | 5 Pages

    When I saw Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring about five years ago at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., I felt something about the painting that I had never felt before when looking at artwork. I felt as if this girl, this young woman in the painting was real, hiding in the museum behind this canvas. She was in the flesh. Her skin was still dewy from three hundred-something years ago, the light across her face still glowing. She was in the round, her eyes followed mine, she was real. She was about to speak, she was in a moment of thought, she was in reflection. This girl was not crimson red or titanium white, she was flesh. Vermeer caught her, a butterfly in his hand. She was not just recorded on canvas, she was created on canvas. She was caught in a moment of stillness. Vermeer creates moments in his paintings. When viewing them, we step into a private, intimate setting, a story. Always, everything is quiet and calm. I realize now it is no wonder I had such a strong reaction to Vermeer the first time I saw him: he is a stillness seeker.

    Read More

  • Women In Art Essay

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    Their intellectual horizons which were previously limited to light poetry or novels, have grown to include the vast fields of painting and music…I refer not here to those who, mistaking the vocation of their sex, are filled with the desire to be painters in the same manner as men. Even if the noisy, over familiar atmosphere of the studio itself were not essentially antipathetic to the codes of decency imposed on women, their physical weakness, and their shy and tender imagination would be confused in the presence of the large canvases, and of subjects either too free or too restricting, such as those which normally for...

    Read More

  • The Painting

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    When I first looked at the picture, it looked like there were only two colors green and blue. When I got closer to the picture I noticed there were many other colors used. I loved the way the colors were mixed into each other where you have to really look at the picture to see the colors. The other colors, other then green and blue, were pink, white, orange, red, and yellow. There were also different shades of green and blue. There was only one solid color in the picture; it was black.

    Read More

More about Matisse's Blue Nude IV

Open Document