Friday, October 2, 2015

The Young Sailor by Henri Matisse

The Young Sailor, 1906
Henri Matisse
Oil on canvas




Henri Matisse was already considered the leader of The Fauves (French for Wild Beasts) when he painted The Young Sailor in 1906. This movement, considered avant-garde at the time, reduced painting to simple forms, gay colors, and unrestrained brushwork to interpret nature and realism.

The model is an eighteen-year-old fisherman, from a small Mediterranean village. Thoughtful observation reveals rather theatrical looks of the subject, his green and blue outfit is set against the pink, candy-colored background, which seem to push Matisse’s decorative Fauve agenda.

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