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Quiz about Paintings of Matisse
Quiz about Paintings of Matisse

Paintings of Matisse Trivia Quiz


The career of this "King of the Fauves" encompassed the first half of the 20th century. Matisse's work embraced a wide variety of styles and techniques. Good Luck!

A multiple-choice quiz by jouen58. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
jouen58
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
156,573
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
9 / 15
Plays
591
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
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Question 1 of 15
1. Many of Matisse's early paintings were in the still-life genre; the earliest show the distinct influence of Cezanne. Which of these was the earliest (1896)?
Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. In his portraits, group paintings, and studies of the human form, Matisse displays a singular peculiarity; there is one part of the body which he either had difficulty painting or, for whatever reason, preferred not to paint. Which is it?
Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. This painting from c.1900 marks a significant development in Matisse's style and is notable for its distinctly dark and sombre color palette.
Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. The paintings "Lux, Calme et Volupte" (1904), "Woman With a Parasol" (1905), and "The Port of Abail" (1905) are painted in this style, of which the chief proponents were Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.
Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Matisse created two paintings with this title; with the exception of the style in which the figures are painted, the subject and the poses of the three figures are virtually identical.



Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. One of Matisse's portraits from 1906 was nicknamed "Green Stripe" by its first owners because of the prominent green stripe running from the top of the forehead down to the tip of the nose which designates the division of the face, the left hand side of which is in a bizarre, lime-green shade. Who is the subject of this painting?
Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. "Goldfish" (1911) is arguably Matisse's best known and most characteristic painting. Bowls of goldfish were, in fact, a favorite feature of Matisse's; which of the following paintings does NOT feature a goldfish bowl?


Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. The grouping of figures in the center of the 1906 painting "Bonheur de Vivre" was used for this famous painting, dating from 1909.
Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. The 1907 painting "La Chambre Rouge", or "Harmony in Red", was originally painted as a study in this color.

Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Matisse and his wife are depicted in this painting, which the artist worked on between 1908 and 1912.
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Question 11 of 15
11. Matisse's son Pierre is featured in this painting, dating from 1916.
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Question 12 of 15
12. With the model Henriette Darricarrere, Matisse was able to achieve "the most complete identification of the artist with his model." Which of these paintings features Henriette?
Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. In the 1940s and 50s, Matisse adopted a new medium, which he used to create such works as "Icarus" (1944), the illustrations for the 1947 book "Jazz", "Chinese Fish" (1951), "Blue Nude" (1952), "The Sorrow of the King" (1952), and "Large Composition With Masks" (1953). Which medium did he use for these works?




Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. Several of Matisse's paintings, including "Bonheur de Vivres" (1906), "Nude, Spanish Carpet" (1919), and "Young Woman in White, Red Background" (1944) feature what are called "visages vides". What does this term mean?
Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. The decoration of the chapel of the Dominican convent at Vence occupied Matisse from 1948 to 1951, and he regarded it as his spiritual testament. His work at Vence included designing the stained-glass windows, the tabernacle, and the vestments, as well as three murals depicting St. Dominic, the Madonna and Child, and the Stations of the Cross. What distinctive feature(s) do these paintings share?


Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Many of Matisse's early paintings were in the still-life genre; the earliest show the distinct influence of Cezanne. Which of these was the earliest (1896)?

Answer: The Schiedam Bottle

"The Schiedam Bottle" depicts an arrangement of fruit and silverware on a white linen tablecloth dominated by a large bottle of dark-colored glass. The painting now hangs in Russia's Hermitage Museum. "Vase and Fruit" was painted in 1901, the de Heem "La Desserte" homage dates from 1915-17. "Still Life With Magnolia" is a much later work, dating from the early 1940s.
2. In his portraits, group paintings, and studies of the human form, Matisse displays a singular peculiarity; there is one part of the body which he either had difficulty painting or, for whatever reason, preferred not to paint. Which is it?

Answer: The hands

In most of Matisse's paintings of people, the subjects either hide their hands behind their backs, in their pockets, or elsewhere. When the hands are shown, they are often blurred and unformed. Some of his paintings show that Matisse could paint the hand quite gracefully (and, in fact, considered the ability to paint hands to be the proof of an artist's talent), but he either found this difficult or simply did not wish to be bothered.

Although some of Matisse's figures are faceless ("visages vides"), this was done purely for artistic reasons.
3. This painting from c.1900 marks a significant development in Matisse's style and is notable for its distinctly dark and sombre color palette.

Answer: Interior With Harmonium

This work marks a significant departure from the brightly colored still lifes, landscapes, and interiors which characterized Matisse's art up to this point. Indeed, the sombre color palette used in this painting (dark browns, oranges, and blues) set it apart from the majority of the artist's work.

There are other features of interest; the unusual angle of the painting (from the back left-hand corner of the instrument, giving the interior the effect of an opening fan), the blurred and indistinct white keys (a reflection of the artist's apparent mental block with hands and fingers?), and the bizarre and precarious placement of the objects on the harmonium, the vase of flowers and the book, giving a feeling of tension and uncertainty.
4. The paintings "Lux, Calme et Volupte" (1904), "Woman With a Parasol" (1905), and "The Port of Abail" (1905) are painted in this style, of which the chief proponents were Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.

Answer: Pointillism

Matisse's experiments in the pointillist style are skillfully executed and exhibit a mosaic-like quality, but lack the spontaneity of Seurat and Signac.
5. Matisse created two paintings with this title; with the exception of the style in which the figures are painted, the subject and the poses of the three figures are virtually identical.

Answer: Luxe (1907)

The paintings each depict a grouping of three women apparently after a bathe. The earlier version uses more subtle colors, shading, and contours. The second version uses solid colors and very clear outlines, giving the figures a flat appearance reminiscent almost of a cartoon. Matisse's purpose in creating these two identical groupings in different styles is unclear, but the second version prefigures a number of characteristics of his later style.
6. One of Matisse's portraits from 1906 was nicknamed "Green Stripe" by its first owners because of the prominent green stripe running from the top of the forehead down to the tip of the nose which designates the division of the face, the left hand side of which is in a bizarre, lime-green shade. Who is the subject of this painting?

Answer: Amelie Matisse (the artist's wife)

Michael and Sarah Stein, the first owners of this portrait of Mme Matisse gave the painting this title. Matisse's depictions of his wife Amelie, from whom he was eventually separated, are highly unusual and seem to give us an insight into his troubled relations with her.

In a 1911 family portrait, she is the picture of solid, black-and-white, matriarchal respectability (almost like Whistler's mother); in a 1913 portrait, her hair and skin take on an equally gray hue which, combined with her formal clothes and feathered pillbox hat, make her look like an elderly woman.

Her strangely darkened eyes in this painting, moreover, give the impression of a mannequin. In the painting in question, Amelie sports a hairstyle featuring a severe topknot and revealing a prominent widow's peak, which at once suggests matronly propriety and at the same time gives her a somewhat Asian appearance.

The reason for livid green hue of the left side of the face (echoing the green background of the right hand side of the painting) makes for interesting speculation; was Amelie given to jealousy? Did she have a dual personality? Or was there actually a green light coloring half of her face?
7. "Goldfish" (1911) is arguably Matisse's best known and most characteristic painting. Bowls of goldfish were, in fact, a favorite feature of Matisse's; which of the following paintings does NOT feature a goldfish bowl?

Answer: Window at Tangier (1912)

This painting represents the quintessence of Matisse's mature style; the technique is seemingly artless and childlike, yet how skillfully the cylindrical glass tank of water is rendered, with the goldfish's reflections dancing on top. Equally vivid are the graceful habit of the geraniums and pink bellflowers on either side of the circular table, the texture of the heart-shaped philodendron leaves, and the verdegris patina of the metal chair and table legs. "The Arab Café" and "Zorah at the Terrace" both depict scenes from Morocco, which Matisse frequently visited. Both use a predominantly turquoise, blue, and white palette and each features a footed glass bowl of goldfish, which stand out charmingly from the contrasting blue background.

The 1914 "Interior" is subtitled "Goldfish Bowl" and features one similar to that in the 1911 painting. "Window at Tangier" features a sweeping view of that city from an open window, on the sill of which stand two vases of flowers (no goldfish bowl).
8. The grouping of figures in the center of the 1906 painting "Bonheur de Vivre" was used for this famous painting, dating from 1909.

Answer: La Danse

Now in the Hermitage Museum, the two panels "La Musique" and "La Danse" were originally commissioned by the art collector Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin, whom Matisse met around 1910. Both paintings feature groupings of nude figures whose ruddy, terra-cotta coloration contrast dramatically with the vivid cobalt blue and deep green of the background. Matisse was apparently quite fond of the particularly graceful grouping in "La Danse"; in addition to having originally featured them in "Bonheur de Vivre", he used a section of the painting as a backdrop for a vase of nasturtiums on a stand in the 1912 painting "Nasturtiums in 'La Danse'".
9. The 1907 painting "La Chambre Rouge", or "Harmony in Red", was originally painted as a study in this color.

Answer: Green

This celebrated painting was painted first in green, then in blue before the artist eventually redid it in red which sets off the view from the open window more effectively. The painting depicts a maid in black and white setting a table. The vivid ed of both tablecloth and wallpaper is set off by the elaborate pattern of blue flower baskets, framed in undulating blue garlands.
10. Matisse and his wife are depicted in this painting, which the artist worked on between 1908 and 1912.

Answer: The Conversation

This singular painting is believed to have reflected the Matisses' troubled marriage. The artist stands on the left side of the painting; his ramrod-straight, rigid posture, accented by the vertical stripes of his pyjamas, give him the appearance almost of a marble column.

His hands, significantly and typically, are in his pockets. Amelie's seated figure, wrapped in a sombre black robe (her pose is believed to have been inspired by that of the Virgin in Martini's 1333 "Annunciation"), her hair let down for once, and her sallow coloring standing out starkly from the vivid, but dark blue of the wall, appears more pliant and vulnerable.

Despite the painting's title, there appears to be little actual conversation between these two; the mouths of both figures are so minute as to be practically non-existent. Rather, it is the contrast between the two figures which speaks volumes.

Some have pointed out that the decorative wrought-iron railing at the window seems to spell out the word "Non" ("No").
11. Matisse's son Pierre is featured in this painting, dating from 1916.

Answer: The Piano Lesson

Pierre was an enthusiastic student of the piano; he is depicted seated at the instrument. A triangular shadow, cast by the metronome, falls across the upper left side of his face, obliterating one eye. A peculiar blue-gray figure in the upper right corner of the painting seems, at first, to be a washstand with a mirror; on closer examination, it is actually a faceless female figure seated on a high stool, which prefigures Matisse's 1914 painting "Woman on a High Stool".
12. With the model Henriette Darricarrere, Matisse was able to achieve "the most complete identification of the artist with his model." Which of these paintings features Henriette?

Answer: The Hindu Pose (1923)

One of Matisse's most celebrated canvases, this depicts Henriette semi-nude on a blue and white checkered seat with her hands over her head and her legs crossed, Hindi-style. A vase of pink flowers sits beside her. Henriette is also depicted in the 1927 painting "Woman With a Veil", as well as others.
13. In the 1940s and 50s, Matisse adopted a new medium, which he used to create such works as "Icarus" (1944), the illustrations for the 1947 book "Jazz", "Chinese Fish" (1951), "Blue Nude" (1952), "The Sorrow of the King" (1952), and "Large Composition With Masks" (1953). Which medium did he use for these works?

Answer: Paper cutouts (decoupage)

Matisse referred to this as "cutting into color", and repeated the style of these works, albeit not the actual technique, for much of the decoration of the convent chapel at Vence in the early 1950s. It sometimes served a practical purpose as well, since the cutouts could be easily transported and assembled by the artist on site.
14. Several of Matisse's paintings, including "Bonheur de Vivres" (1906), "Nude, Spanish Carpet" (1919), and "Young Woman in White, Red Background" (1944) feature what are called "visages vides". What does this term mean?

Answer: Empty Faces

If you speak French, you had an advantage in this question, since "Visages vides" means empty or blank (that is, featureless) faces. Matisse was certainly not reluctant to paint the face, he simply wished in these paintings to focus attention on the pose and the form of the body, without the personalization of facial features.
15. The decoration of the chapel of the Dominican convent at Vence occupied Matisse from 1948 to 1951, and he regarded it as his spiritual testament. His work at Vence included designing the stained-glass windows, the tabernacle, and the vestments, as well as three murals depicting St. Dominic, the Madonna and Child, and the Stations of the Cross. What distinctive feature(s) do these paintings share?

Answer: All of these

The paintings at Vence, as opposed to the other decoration, require some getting used to, even for an avid admirer of Matisse. The Stations of the Cross, in particular, resemble nothing so much as the crude scrawlings of a pious graffiti artist on a subway wall, which may have been partly the artist's intention. Only after long contemplation does one come to appreciate the innate power of the figures; the majestic fluidity of St. Dominic's garments, the innate poignancy of the faceless Virgin and child, the latter held up in a cruciform position, and the barbarism and cruelty achieved by the crude figures of the Stations. By contrast, the windows at Vence, using the style of Matisse's decoupage, throw brilliantly colored light on the austere figures on the walls.
Source: Author jouen58

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