Henri Matisse (31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter. Matisse is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, as one of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of the twentieth century, responsible for significant developments in painting and sculpture.

In 1887 he went to Paris to study law, working as a court administrator in Le Cateau-Cambrésis after gaining his qualification. He first started to paint in 1889, after his mother brought him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of appendicitis. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to become an artist, deeply disappointing his father.

Woman Reading by Henri Matisse

The 'Woman Reading' is displayed at the Museum of Modern arts in Paris. I personally think that this painting shows the subtleness of a reading women and the painting evokes a calm , reading atmosphere, however Matisse could of been presenting this painting in a different way for example Matisse doesn't state what the women is actually reading , is she reading a love letter? is she reading a suicidal note?  Matisse doesn’t state what the women is reading so there could be a meaning behind this painting. Due to the woman’s black dressing gown this could possibly mean that she is morning as someone has recently passed away hence to why there is a possibility that she has discovered the suicidal note within the person’s room or desk. 

 

'Woman with a Hat'



The Woman with a hat is an oil on canvas, it depicts Matisse's wife, Amelie. It was painted in 1905 ,in this painting it looks like Matisse slapped and scratched on a whole of different colour paints and had created a colourful image, due to the brushstrokes I would say that this image was done to show expression within the colours, primary and secondary colours have been used all throughout this painting and I believe Matisse possibly used an expressive brushstroke to bring out the brightness and pop in these certain colours Matisse has chosen. on this painting Matisse has used a variety of consistencies for example the oil paint has been applied heavily around the area of the hat and the dress as for the background and face the paint is shown to applied a lot more thinner , this is shown by the thicker the paint the darker it has come up on the canvas. Secondly, the colour on this painting has been exaggerated due to it not resembling the colours of the actual subject for example the use of the heavy green on the women's face is does not resemble to someone's skin tone especially not so heavy and dark.