The Yellow Dress, by Henri Matisse, is a painting that shows Matisse’s struggle as a painter. The painted is dated from 1929 to 1931. The date range tells us that Matisse was struggling with this artwork and changing his mind about techniques and decisions throughout his time working on it. The Yellow Dress could be seen as the last painting before a turning point in Matisse’s life.
The strokes are a bit tentative and prove as evidence of things going on underneath what is actually visible. The positioning of the arms and the hands, as well as the ribbons on the dress, was changed quite a few times and then outlined with black when Matisse was finally satisfied with the position.
There are several drawings that Matisse did before he completed
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the actual painting, The Yellow Dress. These drawings are rough versions of the painting and they show many different ways Matisse thought to go about his painting. One of the drawings has the woman sitting so small in the room, and the interior of the room is what takes up most of the plane. There is a second drawing in which the woman takes up the majority of the space, so much so that her hat is only partially visible. The ribbons of the dress in the drawn versions are drawn in a very ‘to and fro’ movement, though in the painted version, they are all placed in a line, one above the other. Taking a look at some of Henri Matisse’s other paintings that were done before The Yellow Dress, several differences in the way he depicted his subjects will be noticeable. Odalisque with Green Sash, which was done in 1926, shows the figure in a very typical pose, but competing with a lot of what is going on in the rest of the painting. The table’s legs in the background reflect the same contours of her body. The figure is very prominent, but it seems to flow with the rest of the painting. A second painting, that was done close to The Yellow Dress, is a painting from 1928 called Seated Odalisque. There is so much decorative detail drawn very expansively from the checkerboard to the fabric she is sitting on, to the fabric hanging in the background, so it is much harder to focus on her in the midst of everything else going on. Comparing The Yellow Dress to these two paintings, it is much more simple and focused. In his earlier years, Henri Matisse’s work involved strong brushwork, emphasizing emotional power through the use of undulating lines, and acid-bright colors such as in his work The Joy of Life. His earlier works exhibited the influence of an older generation of his compatriots such as Édouard Manet and Paul Cézanne. He visited a small fishing village where he discovered the bright light of Southern France, leading to him incorporating the use of a much brighter palette. Matisse applied color in a variety of brushwork, ranging from thick impasto to flat areas of pure pigment, sometimes accompanied by a sinuous, arabesque line. Not lasting long, his Fauvism era was seen as a transitional, learning stage for Matisse, as well as for other Fauvists. The years following, he focused more on art as decoration, which can be seen in works such as Reclining Odalisque, 1908. Matisse also dabbled in Cubism with Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, but not for long. Although he had interest in Cubism, he rejected its ideals. He was more interested in using color as the base for articulate, decorative and sometimes even monumental works of art. Though his style changed throughout his art career, he continued to please and amaze his viewers with certain signature elements that stuck with him through most of the different movements. His use of saturated colors, strong outlines, limited detail, and flattened pictorial space being some of them. All of these elements can be seen in The Yellow Dress. The Yellow Dress was finally completed in 1931.
The years he worked on this, as well as a few years prior, are known as his early Nice period. Throughout this period, his main subject was always, or almost always, a female figure or an odalisque that he portrayed as either seated, reclining in some interior that he created himself, or simply standing. After 1930, there was a bolder simplification and new vigor that was present in his art. Some of that can be seen in The Yellow Dress, such as in the woman’s face, where he does not express much detail. As this painting was started in 1929, it is not yet as noticeable, as after this piece of …show more content…
work. The Dance II is one of the first paintings in which the change is visible. All of the dancing figures are depicted with a single tone in their bodies. There is no usage of shadows or highlights and there are many black outlines present. There is a certain intensity that can be seen that was not present in his art prior to The Yellow Dress. When compared to Dance I, from 1909, there is a clear visible difference. The colors in the earlier painting are much more muted and dull, while Dance II has vibrant, powerful colors and an excitement about it. Another artwork that came after The Yellow Dress is The Large Reclining Nude, from 1935.
In his earlier years, Matisse had once controversially written that he wanted to create “an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter, an art which would be…something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue.” In his artworks from after The Yellow Dress, it can be said that he did accomplish that which he once said he wanted to do. His art, as can be seen in Large Reclining Nude, was reduced to essentials and he progressively selected, simplified, and reduced not only form but also color, until the latter consisted of little more than rose, blue, black, and
white.
Contextual Theory: This painting depicts a portrait of life during the late 1800’s. The women’s clothing and hair style represent that era. Gorgeous landscape and a leisurely moment are captured by the artist in this work of
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.
The piece shows Marie posing with her three children, the reason for this painting was to create a public message depicting her as more than just elegance and put her on the same level as the general public. Because the painting was meant for the eyes of the general public the painting is rather bland and lacks detail. Instead of Marie looking down on the population showing off her lavish and extravagant items she has just her children attempting to depict herself as a regular mother just like every other female raising children. There is very little details in the paint except for the empty baby carriage which was most likely only included to honor the death of one of her children at a young
The painting named Portrait of Mrs. Chinnery is an artwork by Elisabeth-Louise Vigee LeBrun produced in the year 1803. It is oil on canvas rectangular painting measuring 36 by 28 inches (91.5 by 71 cent meters). Its subject is Mrs. Chinnery, wife to William. Details on her life are scarce although her maiden name is reported. She was a widely known pianist and a popular hostess in one of the buildings that many of the British rich and noble people liked to frequent. She had three children: George, Caroline and Walter. In this painting, the lady is presented sitting in a relaxed manner while reading a book which is claimed to be about the French fashion of which she was an enthusiast. The subject’s body is facing to the right of the painting, the direction in which she holds the book. She, however, is facing directly in front, in reference to the portrait, with her gaze slightly to the right. Her left arm is hidden below the book, away from view in the painting, while her right arm rests between the pages of the book, probably near the middle of the book, as if to prevent it from closing. She is wearing a red dress, with short sleeves and a V shape in the chest area. She has two necklaces hanging from her neck. She has a red bund round her head, probably to hold her hair off her face. She has gold colored hair hanging freely down her neck and back. In the forehead, the hair is parted in such a way as to form an inverted V. She can be inferred to be wearing a red lipstick, with her face tilted slightly to the left. She does not seem to be smiling; her left eye is open wider than the left eye as if she is winking with the lips closed tightly together. Part of the thigh region can be seen but the legs are hidden off the painting. She ...
She captured herself in beautiful low-cut blue satin dress and the students in working dresses. The dress was painted in great detail and captured both the sheen and fluidity of satin. This was achieved by using shading and li...
It differs greatly, in its portrayal of mothers, from Le Brun’s Self-portrait with her Daughter and Cassatt’s artworks. Behind Marie Antoinette, you see a jewelry cabinet, off to the right of the canvas. This illustrates that, although she is with her children, she finds treasure within her own materialistic objects. Furthermore, her expression lacks emotion as she holds the child loosely within her arms. The child looks off, barely acknowledging its mother, who is holding him. Next, the child, on the far right of the canvas, reveals an empty cradle, alluding to a child who has died. Again, Marie seems unfazed or simply chooses not to acknowledge the boy’s actions. Furthermore, the young girl, on the right of the canvas, clings on to her mother as she lovingly looks up to her mother. Marie holds a wry smile, appearing somewhat annoyed or displeased. The color scheme is dark, but Le Brun utilizes contrast to emphasize the royal family. However, it only works to further expose the detached relationship between a Marie and her children. According to the lecture, “To counter people’s hatred of the queen and their criticisms of her as a bad (even a degenerate) mother, Vigée Le Brun was commissioned to paint this portrait of Marie Antoinette and her children” (Gartrell). Sadly, the painting was
The dots on her veil, a dazzlingly white earring (likely a diamond) and an azure blue tuft of cloth noticeable at her neckline are particularly striking, and provide vibrancy... ... middle of paper ... ... e men from the title of flaneur. In the expression on their faces it almost seems as if there is some yearning for prior times. Because this painting is a modern cityscape it is ipso facto a painting of modernity (one thinks of Baudelair) and a record of the fashions of 1877.
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
Different time periods and different places throughout the world have their own ideas of beauty and perfection. Idealized style is what the artist sees as beautiful. “Women possess a lot of dynamic energy, they take care of a lot of responsibilities- they are wives, mothers, daughters, and friends. Women are dynamic in their trajectory of life: they are beautiful, inspiring and charismatic. The women in my life juggle a
...chniques that Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses in "The Yellow Wallpaper" to suggest that a type of loneliness (in women) caused by imprisoning oppression can lead to the deadliest form of insanity. By using setting, Gilman shows how the barred windows intensifies the young woman's imprisoning oppression, the isolated summer home represents the loneliness the young woman feels, and her hallucinations of the wallpaper pattern indicates her transition to insanity. Wallpaper symbolism is used throughout the story the pattern representing the strangling nature of the imprisoning oppression, the fading yellow color showing the fading away of the young woman, and the hovering smell representing the deadly insanity to which she succumbs. Like the darkness that quickly consumes, the imprisoning loneliness of oppression swallows its victim down into the abyss of insanity.
The first thing to notice about this painting is how incredibly involved and realistic the brushwork is. The couple’s faces are so delicately rendered. Every wrinkle is visible and every hair strand is in it’s place. The soft folds and patterns of their clothing, and the grain of the vertical boards on the house, are highly developed and reveal Wood’s incredible attention to detail. The man, especially, appears to be nearly photorealistic.
The gestural and heavy working of the paint and the contrasting colors make the painting appear active yet are arduous to follow. The defining element of Woman and Bicycle is the presence of the black lines that do most of the work in terms of identifying the figure. Through the wild nature of the brushwork, color, and composition of the painting, it can be implied that the artist is making an implication towards the wild nature of even the most proper of women.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” to express her opinions about feminism and originality. Gilman does so by taking the reader through the terrors of one woman's psychological disorder, her entire mental state characterized by her encounters with the wallpaper in her room. She incorporates imagery and symbolism to show how confined the narrator is because of her gender and mental illness.
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
...technique of fluid in the brush strokes, which lead to an impression of blurry. The spots of soft color combine with the color of the figures, which shows bright light of beams through the trees. He blends colors in the background that appear to be people dancing. The lack of outlines is a traditional Impressionist technique.