Fauvism and Orientalism :: Art, Painting, Madame Matisse

Henri Matisse was very undistinguished in his early periods. He was a late bloomer, learning to paint well into his thirties (Wayne 1). His first painting was Nature morte aux livres (Still Life with Books), its realist style wasn’t his forte (moodbooks.com 1). Soon Matisse was experimenting. Matisse when through many art styles in his life, from neo impressionism to pointillism, he had his fingers in many pies. In 1905 Matisse created fauvism, or the wild beasts. From then on his paintings would never be the same. He became the king of color (Cumming 99). In the 1910’s he started Orientalism. The odalisques were of a much different pattern (Abrams/Cameo 28). Fauvism and Orientalism are very different, but still alike in other ways. They can be compared on the backgrounds, colors, subjects, structure, and style. An important of any art work is the background. In the fauvist movement Matisse used different kinds of backgrounds. In portrait of Madame Matisse (The Green Line), on the left side the red background makes the red half of her body blend in to it. On the right side the green back ground makes her shoulder seem more pronounced (Abrams/Cameo 14). In his painting The Woman in the Hat the background is a powerful smear of bright colors. The reds, yellows, greens, and purples make the picture seem hectic and disordered. Some of the fauvist backgrounds had a logical reason. The background in The Young Sailor II is a soft peach color, complementing the dark, muted hues of the sailors clothing. In the Mediterranean Allegories faze of Fauvism, the backgrounds were more distinguishable. In the Game of Bowls the background is a soft green for grass and a light blue for sky. He had many paintings with this kind of background. The focus was less on expressive color and more on the story behind the painting. For about a year his backgrounds became more of the real and less of the feeling. In the same year, Matisse’s fauvist began to look at bright backgrounds again. Matisse’s painting Harmony in Red (La Desserte) has a bright patterned background. It has the feel of a textile piece, with their flat repetitive pattern (Abrams/Cameo 21). The back ground seemed to organize and guide the picture, making it just as important as the other elements (Abrams/Cameo 21). Other works like interior with Aubergines have the same quality.