Henri's Harem, Inspired by Matisse by k Madison Moore

Henri's Harem

Painting Inspired by Henri Matisse

©kMadisonMooreMkM2011

12 x 16   Oil painting on canvas

Art with Art Series

I was reading about Matisse's Models and came up with this

idea. In this painting I did my take on many of his models.

I made many color and patten changes and changed the facial

features. The flowers, vases, checkerboard, table, furniture 

and wall patterns are inspired by different Matisse paintings.

 
I have such an attraction for Matisse. He was so passionate about
his work. He used such bold colors and mixed patterns with
 patterns and painted table tops facing the viewer as it was more
 important for the elements on the table to be painted.

He had a passion for painting woman in sheer tops and harem

pants. Maybe he wished for a harem...or maybe he had one!

He was hard to model for and went through many,

many models. See a great article I have included below

from the Smithsonian about Matisse and his models.

I thought it would be great to give Henri his Harem lying 

around sipping wine while Henri peeps in.

Enjoy " Henri's Harem"

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more in this series

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 Matisse and His Models

The French expression for thunderbolt—coup de foudre—means “love at first sight,” with all the undertones of violence and risk that were an intrinsic part of Matisse’s passion for painting. Anxiety and dread hung over his studio sessions. Toward the end of his life he told an interviewer that each canvas began as a flirtation and ended up as a rape. He said it was himself, not his subject—or rather it was the feelings his subject aroused in him—that had to be raped. The subject itself could be fruit, flowers or a fabric screen, as often as a human sitter. The young women who posed for him all learned to live and work in the atmosphere of almost unbearable tension generated by Matisse’s effort to express his emotions on canvas—an effort that drained all his strength.

Matisse’s reputation as a Modernist leader was built on this sort of shock. So his followers saw it as an unforgivable betrayal when he moved from Paris to Nice ten years later and started painting good-looking young women in transparent tops and harem pants lounging on cushioned divans.

Read more at The Smithsonian