Henri Matisse: “The Portrait of Madame Matisse” Structural analysis

In 1905, using oil on canvas, Henri Matisse created a painting called The Portrait of Madame Matisse, The Green Stripe.

Henri Matisse uses loose brushstrokes and allows the white-painted canvas to be shown. This thickly applied paint used from the tube creates a rich, strong, heavy image to the viewer, revealing the fauvist technique.

“The Portrait of Madame Matisse, the Green Stripe,” was created in the Fauvist art movement.

Madame Matisse is shown in the painting from her shoulders to the top of her hair, which is done in a bun. She is staring directly at the painter-Henri Matisse. Her hair is an unrealistic black-blue, and the width of her hair is relatively wider than the width of her face. She is wearing a bold orange jumper with a V-shape neckline. The hems of the V-neck on her jumper are green with spots of red. Just on the edge of her V-neck are green stitches. The colour orange in her jumper gradually transforms into a light, warm, pastel pink, with traces of w...