Claire's Art Blog: Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso

Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were both longtime friends and rivals. Although Picasso was often recognized more for his art, Matisse and Picasso are both considered to have made extremely influential developments in painting, sculpture, and other art mediums during the 20^th century.

Henri Matisse was born in a small town in France on December 31, 1869. When Matisse was a young man he fell severely ill and could not get out of bed. His mother bought him a box of paints to distract him and that’s when he knew that art was his calling. Matisse went to the Ecoles de Beaux-Arts in Paris where he worked with the painter Gustave Moreau, who believed in Matisse’s talent. In 1905 Matisse held his first exhibition along with other young artists at the Salon d’Autome. They immediately exploded onto the Parisian art scene with their, “works of such pure, intense, and arbitrary color” (485). Matisse lived through two world wars, but his art is not about politics. He focuses on family, the female body, and life at home. Matisse is known for his paintings, but he also worked in many other mediums like sculpture. In his later years, Matisse concentrated on cut-out paper and arranged the paper into murals. I believe that through every painting, sculpture, and cut out Matisse wanted his art to comfort people. Most of his paintings are of women or still life’s of flowers or objects that you would find in a kitchen. These are things that are familiar to everyone. Looking at his paintings brings a sense of security to the viewer. In many of Picasso’s paintings it is quite the opposite.

Pablo Picasso is arguably one of the most famous artist who has ever lived. He was born in Málaga, Spain on October 25, 1881. His real name is Pablo Ruiz, but Ruiz was too common of a last name for him, so he changed it to Picasso, his mother’s maiden name. Picasso studied in Barcelona and Madrid, but he found that he hated the school’s stiff academic approach and moved to Paris where he lived for the rest of his life. Picasso’s art is categorized into periods: the “Blue” period, “Rose,” Cubist, and Neoclassical. Picasso has a large circle of friends and his art was always in demand.

I think that the main difference between Matisse and Picasso are their subject matters. Matisse focused more on uplifting things while Picasso’s paintings could be very political or could make you feel uncomfortable. For instance, Picasso’s painting entitled, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon depicts prostitutes, but they aren’t beautiful or seductive like other paintings of prostitutes. The ones that Picasso has drawn are ugly and they stare blankly at you. When I look at Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, I feel like I can’t look at it for too long. But when I look at Matisse’s painting The Dance, which also features naked bodies, I want to take my time looking at it. This might be because the people shown in The Dance aren’t looking directly at you. Going off of this, in Picasso’s “Blue” period you can feel the sadness and depression jumping off the canvas. Picasso does not try to hide the grief he felt during this time and thus the viewer feels that too.

Picasso and Matisse lived similar life styles and were influence by each other. They lived and worked in Europe during the same time period, so you would think that their artworks would be more identical, but they stand on their own.