Henri Matisse: from Illusion to Emotional Truth
The pioneer of Fauvism always sought originality above all
Most artists realise that they want to be painters or sculptors early in life and because of this they reach an early maturity. Henri Matisse (1869–1954) had come to painting comparatively late and at first there was no sign of the revolution he would help to bring about. A fellow French artist, Paul Gauguin, had also come to painting late but began by imitating those artists who were at that time the most revolutionary.
Not so Matisse, who wanted to develop gradually from congruence towards true originality. Visiting the Louvre kindled his passion for the works of seventeenth-century French masters such as Jean Siméon Chardin, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He preferred the paintings of Chardin to any others. Although considered a Rococo painter, Chardin retained the dark tonalities of the Baroque and it was these dramatic contrasts between dark and light that appealed to Matisse as a student.
The influence of Chardin is apparent in many of the paintings Matisse did at this time, not only from the predilection for dark colours but also from his choice of subject-matter — Matisse was primarily interested in still-lifes.
