Henri Matisse Comparison

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“But in fact, we do not perceive the elements one at a time but together, and almost any given work of art is not an example of one element but of many.” (Getlein, ??) Henri Matisse is able to brilliantly incorporate and connect many elements in two of his paintings, “The Joy of Life,” and “Dance.” The two works are very similar several ways, including the major artistic elements of color and line. However, they differ in many more instances including usage of artistic techniques including shadowing, as well as texture. As I compare and contrast these two works, I notice an overall style that is created by this artist who was known to paint using principles that would eventually be known as Fauvism. At first glance, the two paintings seem …show more content…

For “Joy of Life,” there is not only so much going on with the design of the characters within the work, but the array of colors within each part make it even busier! The repeated use of color in different scenes makes one search for connection between the characters and between the backgrounds. Also, the colors are coupled with their bold complements at times, creating a little bit of competition. Nevertheless, I think the artist did a great job of balancing the color wheel in this piece. The colors in “Dance,” make for a simpler view as there are not as many busy designs within the color arrangement. It creates space for the viewer to reflect more on other aspects. The characters in this work are connected through very similar color patterns, so their connection is much easier seen and understood. One interesting thing I saw was the disjointed circle formation that was created when the artist kept the hands of two of the individuals unattached. It is not so obvious and distracting because the coloring is not disjointed because another body part replaces the gap. Overall, it is less overwhelming to visually look at than the other work, but this does not mean it is any less overwhelming to

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