Below are works by two 20th century artists. One is by Henri Matisse a French painter that came to fame through his bold use of color. And the other is Wassily Kandinsky a Russian painter who worked with the abstraction of shape and color to change what western civilization considers fine art. I chose these two to show how they made shape and color uniquely theirs.
Matisse uses color boldly and outrageously. He was a part of the Fauvist movement, that emphasized bold color.Using this piece as an example, One may find these colors in nature but not the way that he depicts in his painting. The viewer can look at this and see that this is no realistic color but we still read it as a normal landscape. Even though the colors are strong the shading is correct. Matisse was conscious of how color worked and he used his knowledge to create 20th century masterpieces.
Kandinsky is a more abstract example of shape and color being used in works of art. When the viewer looks at his painting they quickly realize that this is abstract. We try to make out what each “figure” is and come up with some meaning for this painting. He uses that to his advantage. There is a lot of implied movement here in this piece. Starting with the two vertical lines in the middle of the piece that seperate the work in half, that gives the piece a sense of stability surrounded by the chaos everything else surrounding it.
Henri Matisse – View of Collioure
Wassily Kandinsky Composition IV
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In Matisse’s “View of Collioure,” I was quite impressed with his combination of colors. I think that sometimes, when an artist uses too much color, it can often look like their watercolor set puked all over the canvas (if you know what I mean). Yet, despite the numerous colors (hues, tones, and shades) he utilized, there’s a cohesiveness about his work that I am really drawn to!
I’m struck by the power of closure as I look at these abstract images. I’m able to quickly understand the shape of buildings in Matisse’s work because they resemble the shape closely enough. This reminds me of Molly Bang’s Little Red and Wolf.