The Blue Window

The father of modern art, Henri Matisse, painted this in his own bedroom at Issy-les-Moulineaux, though almost nothing in it is rendered as it actually looked. The walls, objects, and view are all drowned in a single saturated blue, flattening the whole room into a pattern. This came at a very important, uncertain moment for Matisse—Cubism was ascendant in Paris and critics were needling him for staying loyal to color over structure. His answer wasn't to compete with Pablo Picasso's fractured space, but to double down on what only he was doing—focusing on color, proving that it can be an element that organizes a picture.

This masterpiece is featured in our 12 Months Weekly Planner; a beautiful tool to stay on track of your year, full of iconic, eclectic mix of paintings.

P.S. Explore the many faces of Matisse's art through 10 masterpieces! For more stories on the artist, see the articles below.