Tuesday, March 25, 2014

French And Russian-French Paintings

By Darren Hartley


Henri-Emile-Benoit Matisse was primarily known as a French painter. However, he was also an artist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. Beginning as still-lives and landscapes, Matisse paintings were done with reasonable proficiency in the traditional Flemish style.

The early Matisse paintings tended towards the gloomy, due to the fact that Henri used a dark palette in accomplishing them. It was a rebellious reputation that his first contemporary art experimentations garnered.

With the introduction of Impressionism between 1897 and 1898, Matisse paintings underwent a complete change in style. The Dinner Table was considered the first masterpiece among the Matisse paintings. This painting was completed in 1897 and was considered radical given its impressionist aspects during that period.

Henri's rebellious talents were displayed in Matisse paintings by 1899. They, however, did not have a clear direction. Sculpture became the discipline Henri turned to when he got stuck with his paintings. Sculpture helped Henri organize his thoughts and sensations.

Color was a crucial element in Matisse paintings. This practice was influenced by the post-impressionist works as well as by the Japanese art. It also led to reconstruction of Henri's own philosophy on still life. Henri stretched his paintings to a forced contemplation of the color surfaces. This stretch was patterned after the fragmented planes of Paul Cezanne.

From 1899 to 1905, Matisse paintings made use of the pointillist technique as adopted from Signac. Meanwhile, in 1902-03, they went back to dark palettes, briefly showing a movement back to naturalism.

A Russian-French artist named Marc Zakharovich Chagall was considered the quintessential 20th century Jewish artist. Marc Chagall paintings exhibited fabulous and metaphoric images on everyday life. This was clearly manifested in Marc's early works including Birth, The Deal and A Holy Family.

There was a demonstration of a perfect feeling for colors and a mastery of the Fauvism methods in Marc Chagall paintings. They also exemplified a mastery of new trends and tendencies. Among these new trends are Cubism, Futurism and Orphism. They were however reshaped in the Marc way. This reshaping is clearly shown in The Violinist, To My Betrothed, Golgotha and Paris Through the Window.

A number of Marc Chagall paintings, including The Pinch of Snuff, The Cattle Dealer and I and the Village, were filled with love and nostalgia. The Marc Chagall paintings remained immersed in nostalgia during the First World War. The difference in Marc's paintings during the war was their becoming very multifaceted in their representation of everyday life.

Window at the Dacha, War, Red Jew, Feast of the Tabernacles, Birthday, Pink Lovers, The Promenade and Bella with White Collar were some of the Marc Chagall paintings exhibited during this period in Marc's life.

Human grief and war hardships are the reflections in War. As a result of the intensification of the Jewish persecution, Marc Chagall paintings became strongly religious as can be gleamed from his works, Red Jew and Feast of the Tabernacles. Lyrical works filled with love towards a woman named Bella are the last 4 aforementioned Marc Chagall paintings.




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