How would you describe Henri Matisse's painting, shown above?  Matisse Woman with a Hat. Is this a good name for it?  Woman with a Hat (La famme au cheapeau) is what this painting has been named.  Should it be Girl in Hat, Woman in Colorful Hat?  I am not sure if this is such a good name of it. It is definately most color, wouldn't you agree or not?

Currently this painting is located at the San Francisco Museum of Modert Art and was donated to the Museum by Elise Haas. It was painted from 1905 and is an Oil on canvas.  The Woman with a Hat painting during this time period was attacked by many viewers and had a very bad influence by others on his works. This painting was bought by Gertrude and Leo Stein 

Who do you think was the woman in this painting?  Many think it was Henri Matisse's wife, Amelie.

First you will probably note that it is a portrait of a woman – however, it is an unusual portrait because of its strange use of color and its choppy, energetic brushstrokes. Or is it a portrait of a little girl or boy or man?

This painting by Matisse was part of the Fauvist movement, which lasted only a few years in the early 20th century in France.  The French word "Fauve" means "the wild beasts". When you look at this painting, can you figure out why the word for "wild beasts" came to symbolize this art movement?

The Fauvism movement was from 1904 until 1908. The Fauvists interpreted the world around them through color, but they did not seek to represent the world using real-life colors.  Instead they utilized bright, bold and strong colors in unexpected places.  For instance, take a close look at the woman's face in the painting above and notice all the different greens that Matisse used to shape her face. Matisse's composition is so masterful that the greens don't seem out of place, even though in real life her face wouldn't normally appear green.

Due to Matisse's balanced use of bold color and his strong, painterly brushstrokes, he is able to depict the energy, or essence of the people and places around him.  These two visual characteristics defined the Fauvist movement, which evolved from a combination of Post-Impressionism and Pointillism.

The most well-known painters of Fauvism are Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Maurice de Vlaminck.  They created landscapes and portraits that can be described as "simplified" to the point where they are almost abstract – yet they are still recognizable as landscapes and portraits. Even though the movement was short-lived, the Fauvist artists left behind a body of work that is both visually and mentally stimulating.