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| Cyclamen 1911 |
This light oil painting of a cyclamen, which seems to have been done rapidly by Henri Matisse, is one of the 11 works depicted in a still life painting of his studio in 1911. "The Red Studio" is at present on exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the western edge of Paris. This striking work is normally to be seen in the MOMA in New York. It last came to France in 1993 for a Matisse exhibition at the Pompidou Centre:
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| L'Atelier rouge (The Red Studio) 1911 |
It is a precious record of the state of Matisse's studio in 1911. The Cyclamen painting is situated towards the top right. The studio was not all Venetian red as the picture implies- the red was painted over impulsively at a later stage by Matisse. When asked why, the painter said he didn't know... Gertrude Stein called it Matisse's most musical piece. Matisse's main patron- Russian textile manufacturer Sergei Shchukin- declined to purchase the work, asking Matisse to paint him pictures of people instead.
The work was later acquired by the owner of the Gargoyle Club in London, where it was displayed in the ballroom for 13 years. Later, Shchukin's loss was the MOMA's gain, as the New York Museum bought it in 1949.
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| Figure décorative (Decorative figure) 1908 |
Two sculptures of nudes figure in the painting- the bronze above and a clay work below which has now lost its head and forearms. In the Red Studio painting, it is intertwined amongst the stems coming out of the vase, centre-left:
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| Nu debout, très cambré (Upright nude with arched back) Collioure, 1906-7 Private Collection |
This small sculpture was only recently discovered; it once belonged to Matisse's elder son Jean. Matisse said that the smaller the work the more important it was to define the form well.
A third sculpture on show is one of Matisse's progression in five states from realistic portrayal to abstract of 'Jeannette'. Jeannette Vaderin was a neighbour of his in Issy-les-Moulineaux. The Matisses moved to that Parisian suburb when they had to leave the convent building on the boulevard des Invalides in Paris, where he had held his art school.
The one seen here is 'Jeannette IV', donated to the Pompidou Centre by Matisse's son Pierre, the New York art dealer. However, referring to the large red studio painting, it will be noticed that the one shown there is the plaster:
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| Jeannette IV, Centre Pompidou |
It is interesting to see that Matisse painted his nudes in "Le Luxe II'' the same Venetian red as the walls and floor to harmonise his picture. The monumental nude figures are in fact flesh-coloured. The work is normally to be seen in Denmark, having been donated to the Copenhagen Museum by a great Danish collector called Johannes Rump:
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| Le Luxe II (Luxury) Collioure, 1907-08 Distemper on canvas SMK National Gallery of Denmark |
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| Roger Fry: A room in the 2nd Post Impressionist Exhibition 1912 Musée d'Orsay-on loan to Tourcoing, Musée Eugène Leroy |
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| Baigneurs (Bathers), Collioure, 1907 SMK National Gallery of Denmark |
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| Nu féminin (Female Nude) Asnières, 1907 tin-glazed earthenware MOMA, New York |
In 1909, Matisse used a professional model called Loulou Brouty for a series of paintings. The work below, along with "Luxe II" and The Red Studio itself, were exhibited in London in 1912 before being taken to the American Armory Show in 1913. The traces around the model's legs and left arm show that Matisse modified her position as he was painting:
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| Nu à l'écharpe blanche (Nude with a White Scarf) 1909 SMK National Gallery of Denmark |
Matisse's "Young Sailor" of 1906, with its simplifed areas of strong colour and the boy's masklike face, had difficulty finding a buyer, unlike a previous more conventional version which Michael and Sarah Stein bought. Its home now is the New York Metropolitan:
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| Jeune Marin (II) (Young Sailor) 1906 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Finally, the tenth work on show in the same room as the Red Studio painting is an earlier work painted in Corsica, where Matisse and his wife Amélie spent the first six months of their marriage in 1898. The impact of colour was so important to his development.
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| Corse, le vieux moulin (Corsica, the Old Mill), Ajaccio, 1898 Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne |
In the depiction of his studio, this painting is schematised and simplified in Matisse's later way of painting- it is seen leaning against a stack of paintings centre left.
The large pink nude to the left has been lost, possibly destroyed on the wishes of the artist at his death, according to his daughter Marguérite. It is only known by photographs. The frame was decorated by the same five-petalled flowers to be seen on the ceramic plate:
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| photograph |
The exhibition continues with some large decorative works by the master which were shown by his art dealer son Pierre in New York in 1949. "Large Red Interior" (1948) is a flashback to Matisse's earlier Red Studio of 1911, but the arrangement and conception are not the same. The red is a more pinky shade than the Venetian red of the earlier painting. Usually to be seen in the Pompidou Centre, it is a glorious harmony of shapes and colour, with its unifying red background and Matisse's characteristic flattening of perspective. The corner between two walls is rendered by a simple black line. Like the work painted 37 years earlier, it is a precious record of the state of the artist's studio:
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| Grand Intérieur Rouge (Large red Interior) 1948 Pompidou Centre |
A further "studio still life", but with a blue background harmony, shows one of the artist's chosen motifs - goldfish in a jar- alongside a clay sculpture of a reclining nude with an open door behind. The outside scene is linked by areas of turquoise green to the water in the jar inside the studio. This painting dates from 1912. It followed the same journey as the Red Studio to London then the U.S., where it lives in the MOMA.
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| Poissons rouges et Sculpture (Goldfish and Sculpture) 1912 MOMA New York |
A second blue-ground work shows the artist's studio from the outside viewed from his second floor bedroom window. The studio is lit up, surrounded by trees:
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| La Fenêtre bleue (The Blue Window) 1913 |
In the twilight Matisse harmonises his ochre tones on the inside and outside, while the blue shades provide a restful atmosphere.
Such paintings greatly impressed later generations of artists. Mark Rothko, for example, spoke of being saturated by Matisse's colour.
One of the artists who admired Matisse is presently featured in a second exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Foundation- Ellsworth Kelly (1949-2015). The American artist redefined abstract art in the late twentieth century with his rigorous coloured shapes, turning walls or whole rooms into works of art.
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| Ellsworth Kelly: Yellow Curve 1990 Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland |
Kelly's decoration of the auditorium at Louis Vuitton remains a permanent work of art with its blocks of colour and its rainbow stage curtain:
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| Ellsworth Kelly: Spectrum VIII 2014 Louis Vuitton Foundation |
As a gesture towards the Olympics currently being held in Paris, there are some works on show which are part of the permanent collection, such as the Olympic Rings created by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat combined:
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| Jean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol: Olympic Rings 1985 |
Matisse: The Red Studio and Ellsworth Kelly: Forms and Colours, 1949-2015 Exhibitions
from 4th May until 9th September 2024
at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, 8 avenue du Mahatma Gandhi, 75116 Paris
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 11am to 8pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 8pm
Closed Tuesdays.
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