Matisse Window Paintings

Matisse s open window collioure is an icon of early modernism.

Matisse window paintings.

The most famous and admired titled simply the open window sometimes also referred to as open window collioure was painted in 1905 in a small coastal town of collioure. The window was created in 1916 by henri matisse in expressionism style. Blue hulled boats float on pink waves below a sky banded with turquoise pink and periwinkle. This vibrant and inviting open window is considered an icon of early modernism.

The several voyages real and artistic have now been completed and for the first time in matisse s art we can detect a valedictory note. He continued to paint this type of paintings for several years. Matisse s open window collioure is an icon of early modernism. The light filled scene is vibrant and inviting.

As transparent barriers or passage ways between the interior of a room and its outside they can also symbolize the artist s eye. As we look through the open window across this placid tranquil scene the somber colors suggest a new and different. Not only do they often look like a painting on the wall but are framed as well. Carrying over from the earlier picture is only the ship moored with its sails furled.

A small but explosive work it is celebrated as one of the most important early paintings of the so called fauve school a group of artists including andré derain maurice de vlaminck and georges braque that emerged in 1904. Henri matisse painted open window collioure in the summer of 1905 when he and andré derain worked together near the spanish border. Matisse had a particular liking for the theme of open window and he produced a number of paintings on the theme. In 1905 he made his first open window painting.

As you can see 1905 was one of his most prolific years as a painter when he was living in france.