Henri Matisse painted Bonheur de Vivre (c. 1905-1906) within the introductory period of radically charged, color-based fauvist work. The color in Bonheur de Vivre easily conveys a sense of joy present in a free-natured romp through nature the painting attempts to emulate.
The painting contains sixteen feminine-coded human figures sitting in a hyper-colored field. Instead of a contemporary scene, trees enclose a mythic clearing. This deifies these figures as they lounge nude in multicolored grass, talk, play instruments, and dance. There are no straight lines within the painting, giving it a sense of fluidity and motion, even though most of the figures are in a stationary position. There is little shadow or depth in the painting, instead relying …show more content…
Bonheur de Vivre notably lacks any truly straight lines, which denote masculinity. {source}
The flat swatches of color and excessive use of curved lines allow the viewer to project their own ideas as to what the painting could be conveying. This sense of exclusively curved lines exaggerates the notion of Bonheur de Vivre depicting only female figures. By engendering the painting as feminine, Bonheur de Vivre either gives space for women to have a place to go to experience the joy of life devoid of harsh masculine traits or Bonheur de Vivre submits to the male gaze. A male viewer could view this painting as a garden for which he must conquer, becoming the sole masculine figure.
These flat swatches of color and curved lines convey an invitation for a viewer to give them context. By not showing much action aside from the central circle of dancers, the sense of stillness present in the painting gives space for the viewers to ruminate over the intent of the work. The separate pairings and groups of figures also give space for individualized emotions and responses to each group, as the colors and actions of each figure or group of figures differs—the greener figures seem to have more of a sense of melancholy in their actions, picking at the grass, than the pink figures do in their amorous connections and music …show more content…
Upon close examination, the viewer sees human figures within these branches, a swatch of green for hair, eyes, and cheek bones on the right branch, echoed in the green of the cheekbone and breast in the left branch. These personified boughs overlap in the same way the figures in the bottom right do to imply a close connection, sharing a single curved line to express contact. As the lines are still curved, the feminine coded trees humanized by the myth of Daphne connect together without a male figure for either of them to have to
The painting contains sixteen feminine-coded human figures sitting in a hyper-colored field. Instead of a contemporary scene, trees enclose a mythic clearing. This deifies these figures as they lounge nude in multicolored grass, talk, play instruments, and dance. There are no straight lines within the painting, giving it a sense of fluidity and motion, even though most of the figures are in a stationary position. There is little shadow or depth in the painting, instead relying …show more content…
Bonheur de Vivre notably lacks any truly straight lines, which denote masculinity. {source}
The flat swatches of color and excessive use of curved lines allow the viewer to project their own ideas as to what the painting could be conveying. This sense of exclusively curved lines exaggerates the notion of Bonheur de Vivre depicting only female figures. By engendering the painting as feminine, Bonheur de Vivre either gives space for women to have a place to go to experience the joy of life devoid of harsh masculine traits or Bonheur de Vivre submits to the male gaze. A male viewer could view this painting as a garden for which he must conquer, becoming the sole masculine figure.
These flat swatches of color and curved lines convey an invitation for a viewer to give them context. By not showing much action aside from the central circle of dancers, the sense of stillness present in the painting gives space for the viewers to ruminate over the intent of the work. The separate pairings and groups of figures also give space for individualized emotions and responses to each group, as the colors and actions of each figure or group of figures differs—the greener figures seem to have more of a sense of melancholy in their actions, picking at the grass, than the pink figures do in their amorous connections and music …show more content…
Upon close examination, the viewer sees human figures within these branches, a swatch of green for hair, eyes, and cheek bones on the right branch, echoed in the green of the cheekbone and breast in the left branch. These personified boughs overlap in the same way the figures in the bottom right do to imply a close connection, sharing a single curved line to express contact. As the lines are still curved, the feminine coded trees humanized by the myth of Daphne connect together without a male figure for either of them to have to