Henri Matisse's The Romanian Blouse

Painted in 1940 "The Romanian Blouse" belongs to a series of paintings Matisse did using the Romanian blouse, "Ie", as a motif.
The "Ie" blouses were used by peasants and nowadays blouses inspired by them are being sold all over the world.














Left: Romanian Suceava District, Bucovina folk costume. Romania Transylvania national costumes. Traditional embroidery patterns.
Right: Blouse inspired by the traditional Ie.

Matisse's Rosary Chapel in Vence, France

This video gives an idea of the sensation inside the chapel, especially the stained glasses.
Matisse did everything, architecture and the interior stained glasses and the ceramic panels.

It is difficult to have good pictures of a work that changes according to the sun light:

"The alter is situated in the centre of the space and facing the two naves. The colour of the stone in which the chapel was built evokes the colour of the Eucharist (built in stone from the Gard Region of France). The white walls, floor and the ceiling contrast with the stain glass windows which each day allow the day light to penetrate through. The stain glass windows are composed of three colours : yellow (the light of the sun and of God), green (nature) and blue ( the Mediterranean sky). Three big paintings engraved on white ceramic decorate the walls of the chapel. Only the reflection of the stain glass windows project colour on the three compositions."

The official site of the chapel explains everything.

Matisse's The young sailor and the Fauves

Matisse painted the 18 years-old  fisherman Germain Augustin Barthélémy twice in 1906.
The left one is the second version:  the contours have been sharpened, the forms are more defined, and the colors have been reduced to large, mostly flat areas of bright green, blue, and pink.
The three dimension at this painting is still suggested.
Matisse had already started painting in the Fauve in 1905:

"Fauve painting is not everything, but it is the foundation of everything."
Henri Matisse

Matisse's portrait by Derain and Banfield

Derain started working with Matisse in 1904 and following the master his palette became more vivid. The light of Collioure, south of France, has also affected the painter but his design is still schematic. In 1905 he painted Matisse's portrait which was turned into a stained-glass in 1993 by Tony Banfield. It is amazing how Banfield reproduces the same colors of Derain's painting. It must be interesting to see how the colors of the glasses change according to the light. during the day.

Matisse depicting music

Right: The Music, 1939 Left: The Music Lesson, 1917 Some of Matisse's works is full of music but these are two where he approached the theme directly. They are twenty two years apart and the 1917 one is more analytical and have some elements that are at other Matisse's works. The 1939 painting shows the master in complete control of his oeuvre.

Matisse - Painting, rules, time... "Notes of a painter", 1908

Henri Matisse and his model 1939

You can download the .pdf file of Matisse's "Notes of a Painter", 1908 here. I think that at this paragraph, the last one, he approaches some important issues that are still being discussed nowadays:

"Rules have no existence outside of individuals: otherwise a good professor would be as great a genius as Racine. Any one of us is capable of repeating fine maxims, but few can also penetrate their meaning. I am ready to admit that from a study of the works of Raphael or Titian a more complete set of rules can be drawn than from the works of Manet or Renoir, but the rules followed by Manet and Renoir were those which suited their temperaments and I prefer the most minor of the their paintings to all the work of those who are content to imitate the Venus of Urbino or the Madonna of the Goldfinch. These latter are of no value to anyone, for whether we want to or not, we belong to our time and we share in its opinions, its feelings, even its delusions. All artists bear the imprint of their time, but the great artists are those in whom this is most profoundly marked. Our epoch for instance is better represented by Courbet than by Flandrin, by Rodin better than by Frémiet. Whether we like it or not, however insistently we call ourselves exiles, between our period and ourselves an indissoluble bond is established, and M. Péladan himself cannot escape it. The aestheticians of the future may perhaps use his books as evidence if they get it in their heads to prove that no one of our time understood anything about the art of Leonardo da Vinci."

Women reading as theme for painters

This is a preview of a post I am doing about women reading. Put your mouse at each painting an you will see the title and the name of the painter at the status bar. Yes, the biggest is Maria Magdalena reading the bible, a 1500-10 painting by Piero di Cosimo. This is very interesting that he did this work after Dan Brown's discover. :) The animated .gif is just for fun. Have a great and peaceful weekend.

Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin's legacy for the impressionists

Top-right:Boy Playing with cards, 1740, by Jean B. Chardin Top-left: Girl with Racket and Shuttlecock, 1740, Jean B. Chardin Left: Soap Bubles, 1734, by Jean B. S. Chardin Although he was the painter of aristocratic world in the late of the 17 century Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, a French painter, also depicted quotidian life and one of his themes were young people playing. At this post there is Manet's "soap bubble children and he received the inspiration from the left painting. This is what Wikipedia says about his legacy:

Chardin's influence on the art of the modern era was wide-ranging, and has been well-documented.^[11] Edouard Manet's half-length Boy Blowing Bubbles and the still lifes of Paul Cézanne are equally indebted to their predecessor.^[12] He was one of Henri Matisse's most admired painters; as an art student Matisse made copies of four Chardin paintings in the Louvre.^[13] Chaim Soutine's still lifes looked to Chardin for inspiration, as did the paintings of Georges Braque, and later, Giorgio Morandi.^[12] In 1999 Lucian Freud painted and etched several copies after The Young Schoolmistress (National Gallery, London).[1]

Matisse's favorite painter? I am not sure. Anyway... he studied Chardin and this is already quite an homage! I like this universe of children playing and it's amazing that Chardin's son has died at a early age probably because of suicide. Sad, too sad. Unfortunately these reproductions do not show half of Chardin's skills.

Matisse - The Woman in Blue

Painted in primary colors and in total lack of perspective "The woman in blue", 1937, is in introspection one of Matisse's and other painters way of depicting women.

Matisse - Harmony in Red (La Desserte)

Look at the way the wallpaper and the table cover has the same pattern and color giving unity to the painting.