In the early 1900’s, Henri Matisse was going through a transitional phase in his work.
For much of his early career, his paintings had been quite classical in style - with pieces like “The Maid” and “The Woman Reading” (see below) showing a warm, homeliness that will surprise people who are only familiar with his later colour schemes.
But, on the advice of another great painter of the time by the name of Camille Pissarro . . . in the late 1890s, Matisse had begun branching out more in his work. Seeking new influences from French Impressionism, Japanese art, and the Romantic colour schemes of JMW Turner among many others.
So, by the turn of the century, the young artist was clearly set on trying to integrate all of these new influences more into his work going forward.
Yet, still - this kind of artistic progress does not always come easily!
In fact, genius is often less a result of inspiration, and more of a perspiration! But, actually, that is why I think this pair of portraits that we are featuring today are so fascinating.
While they are both captivating images in their own right . . . when seen together, they give an even more wonderful insight into Matisse’s inventive process at this time.
In his two portraits of a young sailor, we see him take on exactly the same subject, in exactly the same pose - and yet, create two pictures which are worlds apart!
The first (seen above) is very much in line with the times . . . seeming to balance the the post=impressionist style of Degas, Cezanne, and Toulouse-Lautrec.
While Matisse’s second attempt - seen below - suddenly has this new exoticism, and a “masterful naivety” which, frankly, the Art World had never really seen before
It is truly a stunning metamorphosis - both in terms of a single image, and also for the artist himself, in terms of the direction he wanted to go in his career! And it reminds us again that Matisse’s later style was not just the result of God given talent or effortless intuition.
You see, too often, art historians tend to write about his works like “The Bathers”, or “The Dance” (see below) as the seminal moments in Matisse’s artistic life. (Almost as if these images came out of nowhere - like a bolt from the heavens - and transformed the artist’s direction")
But, we often forget that, prior to these more era defining works, there have likely been countless hours of experimentation and failures, in order to really fine tune the creative intuition.
So with Matisse’s two Sailors (which, incidentally, were painted 1905 . . . at least four years before Matisse’s more well known modernist masterpieces!) this is what we are seeing.
A man still working out his best means of creative expression . . . and an artist trying to transcend those that came before him, in order to move fearlessly into the new.
Very insightful…..Thanks for sharing!
I love your substack. It’s my everyday bite size art. So very glad I came across it. Would be so nice to have the years of the artists life within the essays too.