Painting series by Henri Matisse
French visual artist
Henri Matisse
was known for his use of color and draughtsmanship. In the early 20th century, Matisse became a leader of the
Fauvism
art movement, which was an early movement in the broader
Post-impressionist
era.
After a trip to
Morocco
in 1912 Matisse employed goldfish in aquariums as a motif in his art. While retaining the use of color which he is notable for, Matisse included goldfish in various
still life
scenarios, often as a feature found in depictions of his various studios rather than the focus of pieces.
The motif would be present in Matisse's art mostly during the early and mid-1910s, but also in the 1920s. Most of these pieces were
oil on canvas
still life paintings, but Matisse would produce etchings, drawings, and prints featuring the motif in 1929.
Art historians have commented that Matisse's works featuring goldfish explore the themes of contemplation, tranquility, and pictorial space, with Matisse configuring complex arrangements for the latter. The aquariums the goldfish swim around in function as a metaphor for the studio.
Background
[
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]
In the first two decades of the 20th century, Matisse visited Islamic art exhibitions. He also traveled to
Algeria
and Morocco, collecting pottery, textiles, and tiles.
[1]
In 1909, Matisse moved from Paris to nearby
Issy-les-Moulineaux
to escape Parisian pressures.
[2]
He portrayed his Issy studio in
The Red Studio
(
L'Atelier Rouge
), a 1911 oil on canvas painting considered one of the most influential pieces of
modern art
by experts.
[3]
[4]
The studio would be often depicted in Matisse's goldfish paintings that would follow.
In January 1912, Matisse visited
Tangier
in Morocco, where he stayed through April.
[2]
While there, Matisse noted how the locals were drawn to watching goldfish swim around in bowls. Matisse admired the "relaxed and contemplative" lifestyle
Moroccans
had, a view shared with other Europeans who visited North Africa, according to
Smarthistory
.
[2]
Previously in 1908, Matisse wrote that he dreamed of:
an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter, an art that could be [...] a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair that provides relaxation from fatigue.
[5]
Goldfish era
[
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]
Goldfish became a frequently recurring motif in Matisse's art from 1912 to 1915.
[a]
Sculptures, flowers, and windows were also common motifs found in Matisse's goldfish paintings.
[4]
The 1910s decade was "an extremely reflective period of his career when new spatial configurations were explored," and found Matisse using
Cubist
devices "for his illusionary ends, so as to paradoxically suggest enclosure."
[4]
After returning to Issy from his trip to Morocco, Matisse produced a series of nine paintings during the spring and early summer of 1912, of which
Goldfish
was included. Unlike his other paintings featuring the titular animals, this painting featured the goldfish as its focus.
[2]
Goldfish and Sculpture
was also painted in this spring?summer 1912 period.
[7]
This painting features his
Reclining Nude
from 1907, now taking on "the peachy skin tone of an imagined Caucasian model."
[8]
Matisse also produced the piece,
Studio with Goldfish
(
L'Atelier aux poissons rouges
), dated May?end of September 1912.
[9]
Matisse would later depict his experience visiting Morocco in
Arab Coffeehouse
(
Le cafe Maure
) (1912?13).
[2]
A companion piece,
Zorah on the Terrace
portrays a woman gazing at fish. In both
Arab Coffeehouse
and
Zorah on the Terrace
figure their subjects "in an attitude of profound attention."
[4]
In 1914, he produced
Interior with a Goldfish Bowl
,
[b]
which has a notable use of blue color.
[10]
Goldfish with Palette
, dated November 1914?spring 2015, was also made during this period.
[11]
These two pieces were painted at Matisse's studio at 19,
quai Saint-Michel
.
[12]
Goldfish would again appear in Matisse's work in the following decade, such as in
The Goldfish Bowl
(winter 1921?22).
[13]
Now living in
Nice
by this point, Matisse employed a particular interest in sunlight streaming in from a window in this piece.
[13]
Young Woman before an Aquarium
(
Jeune fille devant un aquarium
) was also painted during this time, between September 1921 and February 1922.
[14]
A similar
Woman before an Aquarium
painting (dated 1921?1923), included elements Matisse encountered in his trips to North Africa.
[1]
The interior scene includes a decorative patterned textile screen.
[1]
In 1929, Matisse once again included goldfish in his art. He produced a variety of drawings and prints featuring the motif.
[4]
In November, he produced a series of ten etchings featuring a female head looking at a goldfish bowl.
[15]
While working on the series, Matisse sketched directly onto small, hand-held copper plates.
[15]
For many of the sketches, Matisse employed a
chine-colle
printmaking technique.
[16]
[17]
[18]
Themes and analysis
[
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]
The goldfish motif has been connected to theme of contemplation. Noted to be aware of this theme, Matisse once remarked to
Marcel Sembat
, "those big devils, there for hours, contemplative, before a flower and some red fish."
[4]
On
Goldfish and Palette
, this "artistic meditation is stressed, as the Moroccans' gaze becomes likened to the artist's own reflections on artistic containment."
[4]
Goldfish also came to symbolize a tranquil and serene state of mind that he perceived the Moroccans to have, which he admired,
[2]
[5]
as well as a "
paradise lost
".
[2]
Appealing for "contemplative relaxation for the viewer" was a major theme in Matisse's work found in
Goldfish
.
[2]
Pictorial
space
and its configuration is also a common theme found in the goldfish paintings.
[2]
[4]
Goldfish
had a "complex construction of pictorial space."
[2]
The arrangement of
Interior with a Goldfish Bowl
"underscores Matisse's interest in windows as passageways between interior and exterior spaces."
[12]
Matisse's studio is often found in the goldfish paintings, and the goldfish swimming around in aquariums has been viewed as a metaphor for the studio.
[2]
Kate Linker of
Artforum
wrote that implicit features "in these studios" are extended to other spaces, elaborating that "the spaces in Matisse's paintings are not generally organized by formal coherence or design, but in a symbolic manner, using repetitions of shape and hue, thematic analogies or pictorial effects to enforce, or embody, their meaning."
[4]
Linker also wrote that:
The roundness of
The Red Studio
returns us to the goldfish bowl, to which the painting bears clear affinities. If the bowl functions as a metaphor for space and for the artwork in its role of spatial summation, then
The Red Studio
can be regarded as its
analogue
."
[4]
In 2022,
Broadsheet
commented on
Interior with a Goldfish Bowl
, writing that the piece has "a special resonance for the contemporary viewer," and calling it "a really rewarding work to look at in the
age of [COVID-19]
, when we've all spent a little bit too long our own private space."
[10]
Exhibitions and museum collections
[
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]
In 2010, the
Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA) in New York held the "Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913?1917" exhibition.
Interior with Goldfish
[b]
and
Goldfish and Palette
were paired together at the exhibition.
[19]
Goldfish and Sculpture
is also found at the MoMA.
[7]
As of 2022, Matisse's goldfish paintings are located in art museums throughout the world.
List of goldfish works
[
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]
Paintings
[
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]
Name
(French name)
|
Year
|
Dimensions
|
|
Gallery
|
Notes
|
Goldfish
|
1912
|
57 in × 38 in.
(146 cm × 97 cm)
|
Moscow, Russia
|
Pushkin Museum
|
[6]
|
Goldfish and Sculpture
|
1912
|
46 × 39 5/8 in.
(116.2 × 100.5 cm)
|
New York City, United States
|
Museum of Modern Art
|
[c]
|
Fish Tank in the Room
|
1912
|
82 × 93 cm
|
Copenhagen
, Denmark
|
National Gallery of Denmark
|
[5]
|
Studio with Goldfish
(
L'Atelier aux poissons rouges
)
|
1912
|
46 7/16 × 39 15/16 in.
(118 × 101.5 cm)
|
Philadelphia
, United States
|
The Barnes Foundation
|
[9]
|
Zorah on the Terrace
|
1912?13
|
116 × 100 cm
|
Moscow, Russia
|
Pushkin Museum
|
[5]
|
Arab Coffeehouse
(
Le cafe Maure
)
|
1912?13
|
176 × 210 cm
|
St. Petersburg
, Russia
|
Hermitage Museum
|
[d]
|
Interior with a Goldfish Bowl
(
Les poissons rouges (Interieur, bocal de poissons rouges)
)
|
1914
|
147 × 97 cm
|
Paris, France
|
Centre Pompidou
|
[b]
|
Goldfish and Palette
|
1914?15
|
57 3/4 × 44 1/4 in.
(146.5 × 112.4 cm)
|
New York City, United States
|
Museum of Modern Art
|
[11]
|
The Goldfish Bowl
|
1921?22
|
21 3/8 × 25 3/4 in.
(54.3 × 65.4 cm)
|
New York City, United States
|
Metropolitan Museum of Art
|
[13]
|
Young Woman before an Aquarium
(
Jeune fille devant un aquarium
)
|
1921?22
|
18 1/4 × 21 5/8 in.
(46.4 × 54.9 cm)
|
Philadelphia
, United States
|
The Barnes Foundation
|
[14]
|
Woman before an Aquarium
|
1921?23
|
31 15/16 × 39 7/16 in.
(81.2 × 100.2 cm)
|
Chicago, United States
|
Art Institute of Chicago
|
[1]
|
Drawings and prints
[
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]
Name
(French name)
|
Year
|
Medium
|
Dimensions
|
|
Gallery
|
Notes
|
Girl with Fishbowl
|
1929
|
Etching
|
Plate: 3 5/8 × 4 7/8 in. (9.21 x 12.38 cm)
Sheet: 11 1/8 × 14 1/2 in. (28.26 x 36.83 cm)
|
Minneapolis
, United States
|
Minneapolis Institute of Art
|
[15]
|
Head of a Young Girl and Two Goldfish
|
1929
|
Etching in black on cream wove paper laid down on ivory wove paper (chine colle)
|
82 × 115 mm
[e]
|
Chicago, United States
|
Art Institute of Chicago
|
[16]
|
Woman with a Fishbowl
|
1929
|
Etching with chine colle
|
3 5/8 × 4 3/4 in. (9.2 × 12.1 cm)
|
New York City, United States
|
Metropolitan Museum of Art
|
[17]
|
Young Woman Contemplating a Goldfish Bowl
(
Jeune femme contemplant un bocal de poissons rouges
)
|
1929
|
Etching with chine colle
|
Plate: 3 15/16 × 5 7/8 in.
(10 × 15 cm); sheet: 11 × 15 1/16 in.
(28 × 38.2 cm)
|
New York City, United States
|
Museum of Modern Art
|
[18]
|
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Artforum
[4]
and the
Pushkin Museum
also include 1911 as part of the period in which goldfish frequently appeared in Matisse's art.
[6]
- ^
a
b
c
Interior with a Goldfish Bowl
is alternatively known as
Interior, Goldfish Bowl
[10]
and
Interior with Goldfish
.
[5]
Not to be confused with
Studio with Goldfish
(1912), which is also alternatively called
Interior with Goldfish
.
[5]
- ^
Artforum
wrote that goldfish first appeared in Matisse's art in 1911, in
Goldfish and Sculpture
.
[4]
The piece, however, is dated 1912 on its official
Museum of Modern Art
webpage.
[7]
- ^
The
Smarthistory
source dates this piece from 1911 to 1913, and both it and
Artforum
alternatively refer to
Arab Coffeehouse
as
The Arab Cafe
.
[2]
[4]
- ^
The image of this piece is 82 × 115 mm, while the work has the additional dimensions: 88 × 123 mm (primary support); 90 × 125 mm (plate); 284 × 380 mm (secondary support).
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Woman before an Aquarium"
.
Art Institute of Chicago
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
Wilkins, Charlotte (9 August 2015).
"Matisse,
Goldfish
"
.
Smarthistory
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
"Duchamp's urinal tops art survey"
.
BBC News
. 1 December 2004
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
Linker, Kate (October 1980).
"Meditations on a Goldfish Bowl: Autonomy and Analogy in Matisse"
.
Artforum
.
19
(2): 65?73
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Michalska, Magda (29 December 2021).
"Why Was Matisse Obsessed with Goldfish?"
.
Daily Art Magazine
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Henri Matisse
Goldfish
. 1912"
.
Pushkin Museum
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Henri Matisse. Goldfish and Sculpture. Issy-les-Moulineaux, spring-summer 1912"
.
Museum of Modern Art
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
Routhier, Jessica Skwire (23 May 2017).
"Matisse In The Studio"
.
Antiques and the Arts Weekly
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Henri Matisse: Studio with Goldfish (L'Atelier aux poissons rouges)"
.
The Barnes Foundation
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
Heath, Nicola (6 January 2022).
"Five Matisse Artworks that Chart His Impact on Art History"
.
Broadsheet
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Henri Matisse. Goldfish and Palette. Paris, quai Saint-Michel, late November 1914-spring 1915"
.
Museum of Modern Art
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Gallery Three"
.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
. 2012
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"The Goldfish Bowl"
.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Young Woman before an Aquarium (Jeune fille devant un aquarium)"
.
The Barnes Foundation
. Retrieved
21 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Girl with Fishbowl"
.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Head of a Young Girl and Two Goldfish"
.
Art Institute of Chicago
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Woman with a Fishbowl"
.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Henri Matisse. Young Woman Contemplating a Goldfish Bowl (Jeune femme contemplant un bocal de poissons rouges). 1929"
.
Museum of Modern Art
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ^
Smith, Roberta (15 July 2010).
"Matisse at MoMA: Carving With Color"
.
New York Times
. Archived from
the original
on 21 June 2012
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
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