The Madras (Le Madras)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Although Matisse's lively sketch depicting his wife, Amélie, is closely related to The Red Madras Headdress, it is not a preparatory study but an independent work. In both works, Amélie wears the same Indian red scarf headdress embroidered with gold thread and an identical robe, but the compositional elements differ. For example, in the present canvas, rapidly sketched contours in graphite guide the application of color. Broad sweeps provide the general idea of the movement of the pose—one whose serpentine lines testify to Matisse's admiration of the work of the 19th-century French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

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