Even those of us not parÂticÂuÂlarÂly well-versed in art hisÂtoÂry have heard of a paintÂing style called fauÂvism — and probÂaÂbly have nevÂer conÂsidÂered what it has to do with fauve, the French word for a wild beast. In fact, the two have everyÂthing to do with one anothÂer, at least in the sense of how cerÂtain critÂics regardÂed cerÂtain artists in the earÂly twenÂtiÂeth cenÂtuÂry. One of the most notable of those artists was HenÂri Matisse, who since the end of the nineÂteenth cenÂtuÂry had been explorÂing the posÂsiÂbilÂiÂties of his deciÂsion to “lean into the draÂmatÂic powÂer of colÂor,” as Evan “NerdÂwriter” Puschak puts it in the new video above.
It was MatisÂse’s unconÂvenÂtionÂal use of colÂor, emoÂtionÂalÂly powÂerÂful but not strictÂly realÂisÂtic, that evenÂtuÂalÂly got him labeled a wild beast. Even before that, in his famous 1904 Luxe, Calme et VolupÂtĂ©, which has its oriÂgins in a stay in St. Tropez, you can “feel Matisse forgÂing his own path. His colÂors are rebelling against their subÂjects. The paintÂing is anarÂchic, fanÂtasÂtiÂcal. It’s pulsÂing with wild enerÂgy.” He conÂtinÂued this work on a trip to the southÂern fishÂing vilÂlage of ColÂlioure, “and even after more than a cenÂtuÂry, the paintÂings that resultÂed “still retain their defiÂant powÂer; the colÂors still sing with the darÂing, the creÂative reckÂlessÂness of that sumÂmer.”
In essence, what shocked about Matisse and the othÂer fauÂvists’ art was its subÂstiÂtuÂtion of objecÂtivÂiÂty with subÂjecÂtivÂiÂty, most noticeÂably in its colÂors, but in subÂtler eleÂments as well. As the years went on — with supÂport comÂing from not the estabÂlishÂment but far-sightÂed colÂlecÂtors — Matisse “learned how to use colÂor to define form itself,” creÂatÂing paintÂings that “expressed deep, priÂmal feelÂings and rhythms.” This evoÂluÂtion culÂmiÂnatÂed in La Danse, whose “shockÂing scarÂlet” used to renÂder “naked, dancÂing, leapÂing, spinÂning figÂures who are less like peoÂple than mythoÂlogÂiÂcal satyrs” drew harshÂer opproÂbriÂum than anyÂthing he’d shown before.
But then, “you can’t expect the instanÂtaÂneous accepÂtance of someÂthing radÂiÂcalÂly new. If it was acceptÂed, it wouldÂn’t be radÂiÂcal.” Today, “knowÂing the direcÂtions that modÂern art went in, we now can appreÂciÂate the full sigÂnifÂiÂcance of MatisÂse’s work. We can be shocked at it withÂout being scanÂdalÂized.” And we can recÂogÂnize that he disÂcovÂered a uniÂverÂsalÂly resÂoÂnant aesÂthetÂic that most of his conÂtemÂpoÂraries didÂn’t underÂstand — or at least it seems that way to me, more than a cenÂtuÂry latÂer and on the othÂer side of the world, where his art now enjoys such a wide appeal that it adorns the iced-cofÂfee botÂtles at conÂveÂnience stores.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
HenÂri Matisse IllusÂtrates Baudelaire’s CenÂsored PoetÂry ColÂlecÂtion, Les Fleurs du Mal
Hear Gertrude Stein Read Works Inspired by Matisse, PicasÂso, and T.S. Eliot (1934)
HenÂri Matisse IllusÂtrates James Joyce’s Ulysses (1935)
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities and the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.