Henri Matisse
French (Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, 1869 - 1954, Nice, France)Esquisse pour "Le bonheur de vivre" (Sketch for "The Joy of Life")
This work is the final known oil sketch for Matisse's monumental landscape Le bonheur de vivre, now in the collection of the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania.
Its liberal and expressive use of color (also apparent in the finished painting) is characteristic of Fauvism, an early modernist movement that also emphasized flattened space and formal qualities such as line and brushwork. Matisse and other Fauvists applied these innovative methods to many traditional artistic subjects, including portraiture, landscape, and the still life.
Deemed the "climactic" work of Fauvism by one critic, the final version of Le bonheur de vivre differs greatly in scale from this study, for the painting is over four times as large. In style, the sketch looks toward Neo-Impressionism with its loose dabs of broken color, while the painting features flat expanses of color and a more linear treatment of the figures.
Although the sketch is a thoroughly modern picture, Matisse also drew from older artistic modes, including French academic painting and the iconography of Greek vases, to create this pastoral scene of carefree innocence and languid, pleasurable repose.
Keywords
landscapes, arcadian, pastoral, nudes, reclining, embracing, Fauves
Please note that artwork locations are subject to change, and not all works are on view at all times. If you are planning a visit to SFMOMA to see a specific work of art, we suggest that you contact us in advance at collections@sfmoma.org to confirm that it will be on view.
Only a portion of SFMOMA's collection is currently online, and the information presented here is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify artwork details.
This resource is for educational use and its contents may not be reproduced without permission. Please review our Terms of Use for more information.
