Walks: Hood
Distance Average: 4 miles
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| Henri Matisse, Woman with Hat, 1905, oil on canvas |
So here it is. THE painting that electrified modern art. THE painting that magnetizesd Paris pulling to the city throngs of artists who had been struggling to break from academic rules and truly express themselves. THE painting that was presented at the 1905 Salon d'Automne and so shocked the Parisian public that they spat on it, attempted to shred it with their fingernails and who knows what other vandalism. Their tastes were essentially taken directly from art critics and academics: proper portraits still should resemble the Mona Lisa in their minds' eyes; they hadn't even accepted Monet and Impressionism yet. Word (and uproar) of THE painting traveled internationally: Matisse was hung in effigy in Chicago for instance. THE painting that shocked the artist himself because he had painted sincerely what he had discovered about color with no intention of causing uproar. And then, when uproar ensued, cautioned his wife (whose portrait this is) not to attend the exhibition for fear of her safety.
THE painting that announced to artists, critics, art teachers, anyone who would listen with their eyes that COLOR in and of itself was a means of artistic expression. From THE painting on, free and personally expressive use of color set modern art apart from the past.
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| SFMOMA recreaction: Apartment of Leo and Gertrude Stein, Paris, 1909 with Picasso's 1907 Portrait of Gertrude Stein hanging above Matisse's Woman With Hat |
THE painting that Picasso looked at many times hanging just below his own portrait of Gertrude Stein (1905-6) in the legendary apartment/salon she shared with her brother Leo. At the time Picasso was a young, yet unsung, impoverished artist who had moved to Paris five years before. He was favored by the Steins and was still struggling mightily - over 90 sittings! and still not finished - to complete the portrait Gertrude Stein had commissioned. During that time he was on the edge of a breakthrough but not quite there, and he knew when looking at THE painting that Matisse had advanced to the higher plain Picasso was seeking. Eventually, largely because of THE painting, Picasso created the next most influential painting of early modern art. In it Picasso brought geometric forms, fragmented perspectives, elements of African masks and sculptures, raw personal emotion into Western European art. Cubism.
(Picasso invited Matisse to view it, and Matisse, from his experience with Woman with Hat, cautioned him not to show it. Picasso, having witnessed the uproar first hand, heeded his advice and waited several years before bringing it public. Even then and actually to this day it the reaction was shock, even horror).
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| Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907, oil on canvas |
THE painting that Ciwt starts all of her art tours with or makes sure people are aware of even if her tour has a different focus. It is a minor miracle that THE painting is in the collection of SFMOMA. It came almost directedly from the walls of the 1905 Paris Salon bought - almost against his will - by Leo Stein, as part of a collection he and his sister Gertrude were assembling. Again there are whole important art stories regarding the Steins' collection. THE painting is like looking at the first wheel in modern art terms.
There is Much more - interesting, important -about THE Painting; but enough, dear readers, for today. Except to say that, to CIWT, little of the true Shocking energy, excitement, vital importance of THE Painting is present in SFMOMA's exhibition: Matisse's Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal. Ciwt has been several times, and was interested to see the general look of the 1906 Salon and learn several the historical facts and personalities surrounding THE painting. But, considering all the exhibition could have been, found it 'shockingly' ho hum.
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