Red Madras Headdress (Le Madras rouge)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This striking portrait represents Amelie Matisse, the artist's wife, who stares down the viewer with a penetrating gaze. Amelie modeled frequently for her husband, posing in some of the great revolutionary canvases of the early 20th century. When Matisse first exhibited this picture in 1907, it was not received very well by critics. Matisse deliberately challenges the conventions of portraiture by distorting his subject's body and focusing instead on color and pattern.

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