Matisse Dance 1 Analysis

In 1909 Sergei Shchkin, a Russian industrialist, asked Henri Matisse for three large paintings to decorate part of his house (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). Dance 1 was one of these paintings (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). Two versions exist of this painting, the initial version, was considered by Matisse as a preparatory sketch and was created in 1909 while the final version has different colors and was finished in 1910. Both versions are considered oil paintings (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.).
“Dance 1” has a similar design than another painting he made in 1906 titled “Bonheur de Vivre” (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). “Dance 1”expresses joy and happiness represented by the dancers in the painting (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). The dancers are drawn with no interior definition in order to create an image where shape matches the message of the painting (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). The artist wanted dancers that could not be restricted in their movements and without any obstacles to express their joy (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). The blue and green field depicted on this painting creates spatial ambiguity because the blue can represent water but it can also depict the sky rising above the hill represented by the green color (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). Another important detail of this …show more content…
Another difference is that in the final version the grass beneath the feet of the two dancers located on the back is compressed by their weight something that does not occur in the initial version (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.). This creates a contrast between lightness depicted in the first version and weight included in the final version (Matisse, Dance I, n.d.).
Matisse did a very good job in both versions of this painting. He was able to express different emotions and convey different messages by changing a few details which proves how talented he