Henri Matisse’s “Blue Nude:
Souvenir at Biskra” is an obvious departure from the female nudes of the past.
She’s blue. This painting isn’t attempting to be a convincing allusion. She is
blue after all. Her features are idealized in an unrealistic fashion – she
looks like the unachievable female form of a drawn figure – meant to be erotic,
but not meant to be interpreted as reality. On top of that, her face is
ambiguous, not making any contact with the viewer as though to assure the
viewer there isn’t any sense of personal self-awareness or self-worth or
intelligence inside this female body. The subject isn’t a real human being.
This blue woman reminds me most of
Manet’s “Olympia,” especially because of the flattening outlines Matisse
used. The body is laying down, and the
face is blankish, making sure there isn’t a possibility for the viewer to make
a personal connection. Manet’s “Olympia”
may be looking directly at the viewer, but she still is determined to keep the
viewer from wanting to make a personal connection. Mostly she is only daring
the viewer to do what they came for and get it over with. However, though both
nudes refuse to make that personal connection, Manet’s is aggressive while
Matisse’s is submissive. The blue woman shape doesn’t try to fight her destiny
to be looked at and twists herself to introduce more eroticism. Also, Matisse
may have been looking back to Manet concerning how to break away from formal
depictions of female nudes, this work doesn’t have any social commentary
attached to critique the modern lifestyles of “Modern Europe.” As we can see
with the noticeable lines and bright colors, Matisse’s nude is more about
stretching beyond formal conventions than social implications.
Aside from the outlines,
brushstrokes are visible, and colors are chosen to be lifelike. The colors, not
intent of depicting reality, are used for mood or expression. Each hue is the
artist’s personal choice with no regard for the predetermined colors in real
life vision. She’s blue. And the scene
she’s in is fairly ambiguous also, since the colors and lines are so much more
dedicated to creating a mood than describing a location for the figure.
Primitivism influences are present.
Since the painting is such as push away from previous formal conventions, it
has to be going in the direction of something else. That direction greatly
resembles the Primitivism movement. It presents the exotic form of a larger,
robust woman, outside in the lap of Mother Nature (or at least I think that’s
what’s going on) referencing the fertility of the woman. This emphasizes the
need to survive and procreate, leading the viewer to a more instinctual state
of mind. And then there’s the title: “Souvenir of Biskra.” Whether or not the
artist himself gave the title, it implies 1) a naked woman posing serves as a
souvenir from a colorful holiday and 2) the artist took a holiday in order to
experience the area, the women, and/or the painting of the women. It isn’t
depicting a “modern” European woman (or girl), but a lower minded creature of
an instinctual, primitive world. It definitely says to me that the artist painted whatever he wanted to see, not what was socially or even formally acceptable.
