Self portrait
In a Striped
T-shirt
1906
Henri Matisse
Produced by:
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator:
Bonnie Tillotson
Additional material from Robert Bullwinkel
The Better
Stick Figure
ANDREAS
VESALIUS
1514 – 1564
•Anatomist
•Physician
•Author/artist
•De Humani Corporis
Fabrica
(On the Fabric of the
Human Body)
I am not accustomed to saying anything with
certainty after only one or two observations.
…A. Vesalius
The Better Stick Figure
The Better Stick Figure
Drawing is like making an
expressive gesture with the
advantage of permanence.
--Henri Matisse
Gesture Drawing
Wild Beasts & Matisse
Fauve is a
French word that
means “wild
beast,” a term
applied to
Matisse and
several other
painters in the
early 20th century
who used color
in bold new
ways.
Self Portrait, 1918
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse is
considered the most
important French artist
of the 20th century
and, along with Pablo
Picasso, one of the
most influential
modernist painters of
the last century.
Matisse began
studying drawing and
painting in the 1890s. A
student of the masters
of Post-Impressionism,
Matisse later made a
reputation for himself
as the leader of a
group of painters
known as Les Fauves.
Britannica Concise
Encyclopedia
When I put a green, it is not grass.
When I put a blue, it is not the sky.
--Henri Matisse
Game of Bowls
1908
Oil on Canvas
Henri Matisse
Seek the strongest color effect possible…
the content is of no importance.
--Henri Matisse
Triads
“To maximize the intensity of
his colors—and achieve the
light he was looking for—
Matisse organized his picture
with pairs of complements.
Orange masts rise from blue
hulls. Potted plants on the
balcony sprout red blossoms
amid green foliage.
Reflections oppose pink and
turquoise, and in the walls
these colors are reversed and
deepened. Isolated by bare
areas of canvas, these
combinations generate a sort
of visual vibration.”
National Gallery of Art
http://www.nga.gov
Open Window, Colioure
1905
Henri Matisse
Put a colour upon a canvas –
it not only colours
the part of the canvas
to which the colour
has been applied,
but it also colours
the surrounding space
with the complementary.
--Henri Matisse
Complementary Colors
Do you see any complementary colors?
The Negress
Gouache
1952, Henri Matisse
Collage
How about here?
The Sorrows of the King
Gouache on Paper on Canvas
1952, Henri Matisse
Your Artwork:
•Create a collage with paper cutouts using your gesture drawn figure(s).
•You may use repeated symbols or blocks of color as Matisse did.
•Use examples of two paired complements to create “visual vibration.”
•Think about how you want to fit the pieces together.
•Fit the parts together, one into the other, and build your figure like a
carpenter builds a house. Everything must be constructed,
composed of parts that make a whole. --Henri Matisse
•Mount your cutouts on white paper.
Criteria for success:
• What skills did you learn in these activities?
• What content knowledge did you use?
How successful were you in doing and showing that knowledge?
Not quite? 1
Limited? 2
Proficient? 3
Advanced?4
What would you do differently if you could do it again?
Criteria
Advanced Proficient
4
3
Limited
2
Not Quite
1
Missing
0
This work was created by Bonnie
Tillotson, VAPA Coordinator for the San
Bernardino Superintendent of Schools
with additional material by Robert
Bullwinkel, VAPA Coordinator for the
Fresno County Office of Education. This
work was funded by the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation through a grant to the
California County Superintendents
Educational Services Association’s Arts
Initiative.
All images used in this presentation are
non-restricted. This work may be used
free of charge for all non-commercial
applications. Please give appropriate
credit as listed above.
Produced by:
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator:
Bonnie Tillotson
Additional material from Robert Bullwinkel