Matisse, Henri (1869-1954)
Luxe, calme et volupté (Luxury, Calm and Pleasure)
1904
Oil on canvas, 98.5 x 118.5 x 2.2 cm
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris
© Succession H. Matisse, Paris
Luxe, calme et volupté testifies to the work Henri Matisse did in Saint-Tropez in the summer of 1904, as he learnt the theory of Neo-Impressionism from Paul Signac. There he practiced the technique of the divided brushstroke, which increases the luminosity and contrast of colour. Yet it did not suit him: he applied it without rigour and quickly came to prefer areas of uniform colour – the beginnings of Fauvism. Luxe, calme et volupté evokes Matisse’s favoured theme of the Golden Age, drawing on a rich artistic heritage, from the poems of Ovid to Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe, from Cézanne’s Baigneuses to the Symbolist frescoes of Puvis de Chavannes. (Centre Pompidou)
See also:
• Saint-Tropez (France)