CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/30/2015

The Oasis of Matisse

"Bather" (1909) is reproduced from The Oasis of Matisse, published to accompany the largest exhibition of Matisse's work ever staged in the Netherlands. Curator Beatrix Ruf writes, "In the spirit of Cézanne, [Matisse] used variations in thickness and other irregularities of line 
to prevent… shapes from looking unrealistically clear-cut… In the works that followed 'Bather,' Matisse applied the principle of the simplification of line and the coincidence of form and color ever more rigorously. The question he was exploring was how to leave the means to speak for themselves, so that an earthly paradise could be evoked with a minimum of details. He continued to pursue the idea of relaxed figures in pattern-like arrangements: his ideal of a modern, stylish way of painting proved to be best satisfied by the combination of an idyllic scene with a two-dimensional, decorative composition. It was a combination that would serve him well for the rest of his life."