I am learning a great deal about art the
moment and I don’t think there is enough time in the day to take it all in
(given that I nearly fell asleep this evening doing bedtime for my youngest
child, it must be true that there really aren’t enough hours!) Matisse in particular is a huge subject just
by himself and I am currently reading a book about him, but since I should try
to keep up with these entries and am behind a little, I will give a very brief
account of his life before discussing my response to the exhibition.
Matisse was born in 1869 and died in
1954. His life covers an incredibly
active and extraordinary time from our history.
He was born at what seems to be the beginning of modern life, before all
the inventions that propelled human existence into something quite unlike
anything that has gone before; cars, planes, trains, industrialization and
modernism[1]. The changes when looked back at from the
present seemed to have happened so speedily and I have often wondered what it
must have been like for people to live through all these changes, not to
mention the extreme violence and political upheaval, two world wars,
revolutions, nation and empire building as well as the dismantling that
occurred.
Matisse’s work “Open Window was
exhibited at the landmark Salon d'automne of 1905, where Matisse and other
fauve painters were greeted with critical skepticism and public disdain. The
"fauve" (savage beast) label itself originated in the art critic
Louis Vauxcelles' newspaper review of the exhibition.”[2] Matisse’s work seemed to blatantly defy
tradition and culturally excepted norms in art, and was instead shockingly
primitive in form with huge brush strokes and broad colours. However be became on the of the grand names
of Modernism and produced an enormous body of work continuing to paint, draw
and sculpt throughout all the social upheaval that happened during the first
half of last century.
Thirteen years before the end of Matisse’s
life he nearly died but survived although in great pain, often consigned to a
wheel chair and as he described ‘mutilated’[3]. During this time and despite his ongoing
health problems Matisse invented a new way of working. He no longer painted but instead began to cut
out coloured shapes with a huge pair of tailor’s scissors. With the help of assistants he pinned these
shapes to the walls around him and created art that was vibrant, significantly
more primitive than his earlier work and also difficult for contemporaries to accept. In fact there were those that thought he’d
gone quite mad, cutting bits of paper out.
He understood that the world would not appreciate and understand this
work until much later: ‘the creators of a new language are always 50 years
ahead of their time’[4]. The new language he created went on to be
used in models for stained glass windows, theatre and book designs and an
entire church including liturgical vestments.
I am not surprised that people found the
work difficult to understand. It is not
easy work in my mind and the departure from any notions of ‘classical’ painting
must have made it hard to comprehend as ‘art’ when you consider the context in
which it was first produced. Nowadays we
are used to seeing beds with sheets crumpled up and stuffed sharks and dots and
blurry photographs described as art, so we are probably less hindered by the
classical conditioning people may have been in the 40s and 50s. However, even so, I did not respond to the
exhibition as I did others I have recently been to.
I can appreciate the primitive colours and
patterns, the playfulness and intensity, the bravery of how broad, bold and
ambitious the cut-outs are, to a sense of creativity that is utterly without
classical conditioning, that says, ‘here, I am’ so stridently. I see that the patterns he created are
extraordinarily rhythmical and alive, containing a sense of explosiveness,
which is wonderful to be surrounded by.
But the art is so very primal that I actually find it quite difficult to
access. Maybe I am 50 years behind my
time!
I am, however, immensely grateful to the
universe for a bizarre co-incidence, where I have attended several consecutive
visits to exhibitions that concentrate on cutting and pasting, or pinning in
Matisse’s case, as it has demonstrated to me that these artists, Hoch, Matisse,
William S Burroughs and most recently Richard Hamilton were, in much of their
work, having fun. I do not mean the work
was not serious for I truly believe it was, and that with the work came pain
and distress and difficulty.
Nevertheless the artists I have looked at this year have repeatedly
shown me that artistic activity can be made with whatever medium you choose,
provided you commit, are dedicated to it, to fulfilling the expressiveness of
what you’re exploring. Does any of that
make sense? I’m just beginning to see
the possibilities and perhaps am still forming the words to explain what I am
becoming aware of.
I should also say that my companion at the
Matisse exhibit, my 2-year-old son, evidently had a much more visceral, uncomplicated
response to the cut-outs than me. He
told me towards the end that he was scared, the paintings were scary and that
he wanted to go home. This surprised me
but they are really big and bright and intense and so I can begin to see what
he was saying. It’s helpful having an
unadulterated, unconditioned, uncomplicated small person with you sometimes.
Some links:
[1] http://www.henri-matisse.net/artofmatisse.html
[2] http://www.henri-matisse.net/artofmatisse.html
[3] Page 5, Henri Matisse, A Second Life, Alastair Sooke, Penguin, 2014
[4] Page 8 Henri Matisse, A Second Life, Alastair Sooke, Penguin, 2014
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