Wednesday, May 28, 2008


The Dessert
Matisse

This painting, also known as “Harmony in Red” shows an image of a woman setting a table; it is only through the title that we known that she is putting out a delicious dessert. In the background of the picture is a window through which we seen a summer garden. The wallpaper in the inside of the house has pictures of flowerpots and plants; this image is also repeated on the table cloth. The plants on the table cloth look as though they are climbing up onto the table. It looks as though the garden is invading the house! While the outside garden is well kept and organized, it is a jungle inside. The lady in the picture is being overwhelmed.

This painting has a clear connection to the modernist movement. The observer of the painting, like the speaker in a poem it is possible that the observer is not Matisse, feels in “Harmony” with the garden it simulates the observer emotions and a journey of the imagination.

1 comment:

Mr. J. Cook said...

"It looks as though the garden is invading the house! While the outside garden is well kept and organized, it is a jungle inside."
Excellent observation and this is very much in the spirit of Matisse's work. He was described as a Fauvist (beast) which was a term first used as an attack (the images are too untamed, uncivilized, etc.) but later used merely to describe his sort of painting.

I fear this is the last of your many musings about the connection between human beings in nature that I will have the chance to read as your teacher.

Maybe at some point in the future I will be scanning a magazine or floating through the internet and will encounter your further musings on humanity's relationship to the natural realm. I hope so.

all the best,
Mr. James Cook