Henri Matisse

Matisse says, “What I am after, above all, is expression…I am unable to distinguish between the feeling I have for life and my way of expressing it.”  

Henri Matisse was a French artist recognized as a leading figure in modern art in the 20^th Century along side Picasso and Duchamp.  He is known for his use of color.  His subjects most frequently painted were still life and women, and he painted from nature and not from the imagination, he would place his subjects in real interiors.  I have two of my favorite works by Matisse here to discuss.

Lets take a look at: “Interior with a Violin Case” 1918. Oil on Canvas

In this painting you see the colorist painter in Matisse, also see that he used bold outlines around his shapes.  In this painting you look into this room and carry your view out of the window, then back into the room where you see no person, but you notice the violin case on the chair, and it is empty, where is the violin?  With no human subject in this artwork you cannot help but wonder if the sound of the violin can be heard through the open window.  You wonder, has the owner of this violin opened his case and escaped to the streets below to play his instrument, the open case allures us to think or wonder where the violin could be and why the window is open.  The room seems freshly lived in rather then still with no life.  The sun is piercing through the window, the streaming light fills this room with life.  Matisse interacts with the viewer here and gives us a full escape into this painting. Do you feel the life in this painting, and does the room seem to be occupied?  How does this painting make you feel?

My number favorite painting by Matisse is his Oil on canvas, Dance (1) 1909.

In this favorite painting of my, I admire the movement is this painting, and the joy and fun that is relays to the viewer.  These five ladies are on a high grassy knoll, with blue sky behind them and they dance with hands joined, or almost joined.  If you notice the fingers on the bottom center is almost touching, while reaching for the other figure on her left, and this slightly breaks the chain.  She extends toward her companion to her left, as she simultaneously pulls hard on the hand of the figure to her right, now notice the legs of this figure in the front they are off balance while she reaches, and the two on top of the hill have their knees bent and their shoulder raised forming this circle that our eyes follow round and round.  Dance has movement and beautiful bold colors that give the viewer the sense of joy and fun time. 

Matisse died in 1954, with a title as one of our greatest.  

Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera, the Mexican Muralist had star power in the 1920’s and 1930’s.  He was a communist who painted murals for the great capitalist of his day; he expressed the epic view of history and a cosmic vision of the human potential.  Other then being married to his third wife Frida Kahlo, the fresco painter is well know in Mexico and the United States for his works.

Of course Rivera is best know for is Mexican murals that can be seen in the Ministry of Education and

His staircase paintings at, The National Palace

Diego Rivera is considered the greatest Mexican painter of the twentieth century, he has a profound effect on the international art world, and he is credited with the reintroduction of fresco painting into modern art and architecture.  Frescos is a type of mural painting done on plaster on walls or ceilings, the art was popular in the Renaissance that lost popularity but had a somewhat come back in the 20^th century.  He had an Aztec influence with bright bold colors and simplified figures.  Most of his painting were controversial and reflected his beliefs.  Rivera was a rebel and his fresco mainly dealt with Mexican society and depicted the country’s 1910 Revolution.

Diego made several trip to America that would change the course of American painting.  In 1930, he began work on two major American commissions: for the American Stock Exchange Luncheon Club, in New York City, and for theCalifornia School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, both incorporated Rivera’s radical politics.  Later, at the height of the Great Depression in 1932, at the request of Henry Ford, Rivera painted a Fresco at the Detroit Institute of Arts that gave praise to the American worker, it depicted industrial life in the United States, with reference on the car plant workers of Detroit.  With his radical political and independent nature this work began to draw criticism in America, Ford’s son defended it and the work remains Rivera’s most significant painting in America today.

Diego did several other painting in Mexico and America before he died on November 24, 1957.   I solute him on this anniversary of his death, and may his influence in the arts carry on.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, and her self-portrait make her one of Mexico’s most famous 20th century female artist.  She is best know for self-portraits, 

and she painted most of them on her back from her bed.  Kahlo’s paintings are remembered for its “pain and passion”, and depictions of her beloved country, Mexico with its intense and vibrant colors.  

Kahlo suffered lifelong health problems, many which started from a tragic traffic accident early in her life.  Most of her works show her pain and how she suffered, and when you view a Kahlo painting you will feel the pain and struggles she underwent.   

Frida, has over 200 paintings, drawings and sketches relating to her experiences in life, including her volatile relationship with Diego Riviera.  Of all her paintings she painted herself most often.  When asked why she painted herself so often, she replied: ”Because I am so often alone… because I am the subject I know best.”

Yes, I did say her relationship with Diego Rivera, the famous Mexican Muralist.  He was 20 years older then Frida, and she married him at the young age of 22. This marriage was anything but lovely.  The relationship was stormy and passionate, with infidelities, divorce, remarriage, Frida’s bi-sexual affairs, her health and the worst for Frida was her inability to have children.  She was known to say, “I suffered two grave accidents in my life…one in which a streetcar knocked me down and the other was Diego.”  The Streetcar accident left her crippled physically and Rivera crippled her emotionally.  Frida Kahlo was an emotional artist and when you view her works you can feel her pain.  

Diego was always on her mind, till the day she died, July 13 1954.