Art Eyewitness Review: From Paris to Provence at the Barnes Foundation

                            From Paris to Provence:                     

French Painting at the Barnes Foundation

June 29 - August 31, 2025 

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Original Photography by Anne Lloyd

Art museums are oases of cultural and creative expression. On hot summer days, when throngs of vacationing art lovers make the trek in search of masterpieces, an art museum often is a literal oasis.The air conditioned galleries and cold drinks in the cafeteria are a welcome - and very needed - relief.

So it was, on a scorching late June morning, when we attended the press preview of the summer exhibition at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. It was fairly early in the morning, but an intensive heatwave was setting-in. It was "mad-dogs and Englishmen" weather, with hours to go until the "noon-day sun."

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 The press preview of Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes 

The subject of the summer exhibition is From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes. As the assembled journalists and photographers gathered to hear Dr. Cindy Kang provide a brilliant lecture on these signature Barnes art works, everyone looked positively revived. But when we reached the third gallery of the exhibition, dedicated to Van Gogh's paintings during his sojourn in Arles, I felt an irresistible urge to put my sunglasses back-on.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery view of Paris to Provence at the Barnes Foundation,

 showing four paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 1888-1890.

There, set against the glaring backdrop of a Mediterranean summer hue, were four Van Gogh icons - and I don't use that word lightly.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 The four Van Gogh paintings shown above: Still Life (1888),

 The Smoker (1888), The Postman (1889), Houses and Figure (1890).

Dr. Albert Barnes, with the advice and assistance of his friend, the artist William Glackens, purchased this select group of Van Gogh paintings. Because of the unique criteria of the Barnes Method, these Van Gogh paintings are rarely shown together. Indeed, this is likely the only time that they have ever been publicly displayed in this manner.

It was positively electrifying to see the four Van Gogh works at the press preview. Predictably, when my wife Anne and I returned for a follow-up visit, the number of art lovers lingering in front of these remarkable paintings never seemed to diminish.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 "Crowd pleasers" of the Paris to Provence exhibition, 

Vincent van Gogh's The Smoker (1888) & The Postman (1889).

As unique as is the opportunity to view these Van Gogh paintings in their present setting, the motivation for this splendid exhibition is rather prosaic. The Barnes opened its doors on May 12, 2012. The wear-and-tear of ceaseless foot traffic necessitated a major rehab of the gallery floors.

Last summer's Matisse and Renoir exhibition presented an insightful look at the relationship of these two artists. All of the works on display came from the walls of second-floor galleries at the Barnes, while the floors were refurbished. This summer, it is the turn of the first floor galleries.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

 View of a first floor gallery at the Barnes Foundation, the display of art works reflecting the principles of the Barnes Method.

The Barnes Method of display emphasizes the relationship of works of art based on "light, line, color and space." The arrangement of the "ensembles" of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, metalwork and hand-crafted furniture certainly encourages visitors to the Barnes to view these works from unconventional perspectives.

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

An ensemble at the Barnes Foundation, showing

 Van Gogh's The Postman displayed Renoir's Nude with Castenets (1918), Renoir still-lifes and a Windsor chair from the 1700's. 

Originality of thought is, obviously, a good attitude to cultivate. Moreover, Dr. Barnes aimed to promote a democratic approach to culture. To Barnes, a carved Windsor chair from the 1700's was as worthy of study and appreciation as a Van Gogh portrait. 

However, when one of the latter, in this case The Postman (Joseph-Etienne Roulin), is wedged in a corner to achieve the desire Barnes Method configuration, that can pose problems.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Vincent van Gogh’s The Postman (detail), 1889

Van Gogh painted six portraits of Roulin during the years, 1888-89, and the Barnes version is arguably the finest. The skill with which Van Gogh depicted Roulin's eyes is on such a transcendent level that clearly it was based on much more than technical skill. But if you wish to subject The Postman to prolonged appraisal in its usual setting, you risk a "crick" in the back or eye strain.

Paris to Provence provides a precious opportunity to encounter The Postman "face-to-face." At the same time, you can attempt to fathom the intangible bond between Van Gogh and Roulin which is reflected in this astonishing - yes, "iconic" - portrait.

This holds true for the other nearby Van Gogh paintings, including (or perhaps, especially) Houses and Figure which seems to be shrinking in the intense summer heat.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery views of Van Gogh’s Houses and Figure, 1890

From Paris to Provence is much more than a golden opportunity to display signature works from the Barnes collection in a popular summer offering. It is a brilliantly curated exhibition charting the rise and progress of modern art in Belle Époque France. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Pierre-August Renoir's Girl with a Jump Rope (detail), 1876

The exhibition begins with a series of Renoir portraits from the 1870's and several works by Manet, an artist seldom associated with the Barnes collection. These highly accomplished works symbolize the rapid recovery of the self-confidence and prosperity of France following the disastrous Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Claude Monet's The Studio Boat (detail), 1876

Impressionism, the "new painting", spread from Paris to the surrounding countryside. The Barnes exhibit takes note of this trend with a painting of Claude Monet working in his Studio Boat near Argenteuil on the River Seine. From there, the Impressionists and post-Impressionists sought new subjects in Normandy and Brittany. The next, bold move was southward to Provence, where the tragic Van Gogh/Gauguin episode took place.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery view of Paul Cézanne's Bathers at Rest, 1876-77

At this point in Paris to Provence, the reclusive Cézanne takes center stage. Choosing wisely from the incomparable holdings of Cézanne's oeuvre in the Barnes collection (61 oil paintings and 8 of his works on paper), Dr. Kang was able to illustrate the extraordinary scope of Cézanne's genius.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Two Cézanne paintings on view in Paris to Provence: 

Terracotta Pots and Flowers, 1891-92, & Bibemus Quarry, c. 1895

This brief synopsis of the exhibition is hardly "breaking" news for art enthusiasts. What is worthy of remark is the way that this time-honored narrative of early Modernism is illustrated with works from the Barnes. The result is a striking visual reinterpretation which presents a familiar story in a new light.

The selection of works of art for presentation in a special exhibition is always a complex process. In one sense, the task of the Barnes curatorial staff is both simplified and complicated by the fact that only paintings from the first floor galleries could be used. It says a lot about the strength of the Barnes collection that - under these restrictions - fifty outstanding works could be selected to illustrate the Paris to Provence theme.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 View of the Paris to Provence exhibition: (from left) Henri Matisse's

 Blue Still Life (1907) & Renoir's Nude in a Landscape, c. 1917

Yet there was a further challenge in the selection process. One of the leading figures in the southward shift was Henri Matisse. Along with Renoir, Matisse was the protagonist of last summer's exhibit, as noted earlier. Although there are several Renoir paintings in From Paris to Provence, the decision was made to limit Matisse's contribution to just one.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Henri Matisse's Blue Still Life, 1907

The choice was a wise one: Matisse's Blue Still Life. Painted in 1907, it is a sensational "balancing act", contrasting the bright Mediterranean light with deep shadow. Additionally, Blue Still Life has several of the defining hallmarks of Matisse's oeuvre, notably his love of fabrics and astute interior design sense.

One of the reasons for restricting the number of Matisse paintings and thereby conserving available wall space becomes apparent in the last gallery. Here paintings by emigre artists like Amadeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Georgio de Chirico and Joan Miro are displayed.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 The final gallery of Paris to Provence, showing (from left) Modigliani's  Girl with a Polka-Dot Blouse (1919), Soutine's Woman in Blue (1919)

and Modigliani's Portrait of the Red-Headed Woman (1918)

Dr. Cindy Kang explained one of the important results of widening the focus of French art beyond the orbit of Paris. This was to create works of art which appealed to and influenced a new generation of artists at the dawn of the twentieth century. Many of these artists reversed the "southward shift" and made Paris their base of operation.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Dr. Cindy Kang at the press preview of Paris to Provence

Much of the work of this new "School of Paris" would prove unintelligible and infuriating to the French artistic establishment and public-at-large. De Chirico's cryptic Sophocles and Euripides perhaps explains why.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Giorgio de Chirico's Sophocles and Euripides, 1925

As alien and unsettling as some of the paintings in the final gallery of Paris to Provence may appear, their presence should not be unexpected. The late 19th century in France is known as the Belle Époque, but much of the beauty and joie de vivre of the era was dearly bought. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Vincent van Gogh's The Factory, 1887

Along with the four sun-drenched Provencal paintings, there is another Van Gogh which shows a grim industrial site in the suburbs of Paris. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Detail of Cézanne's Young Man and Skull, 1896-98

Nor can the sobering sight of human skulls in two of the Cézanne paintings be ignored. This was a reference to the omnipresence of death even in paradise-like surroundings - Et in Arcadia ego. For Cézanne, who aimed to paint works of art worthy of display in the Louvre, this was likely an homage to the famous paintings by Nicholas Poussin (1637-38) on this grim theme.

It would, however, be quite inappropriate to end this review of Paris to Provence on a melancholy note.

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Visitors to the Paris to Provence exhibition,

 admiring Édouard Manet's Laundry, 1876

The French painters, whose works are so beautifully displayed in this wonderful exhibition, traveled the road from Paris to Provence in search of light. The foreign artists who responded - Modigliani, Soutine, Miro, De Chirico and others (like Chagall) not represented in the exhibit - chose to paint in Paris because it was the City of Light.  

And where there is light, there is art and life.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved.                                                 

  Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd, all rights reserved. 

Introductory Image:

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Pierre-August Renoir's Luncheon, 1875. Oil on canvas: 19 3/8 x 23 5/8 in. (49.2 x 60 cm) BF45

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) The press preview of From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Paris to Provence at the Barnes Foundation, showing four paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 1888-90.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Four paintings by Vincent van Gogh: Still Life (1888), The Smoker (1888), The Postman (1889) and Houses and Figure (1890).

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)  "Crowd pleasers" of the Paris to Provence exhibition, Vincent van Gogh's The Smoker (1888) & The Postman (1889)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) View of a first floor gallery at the Barnes Foundation, the display of art works reflecting the principles of the Barnes Method.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) An ensemble at the Barnes Foundation, showing

 Van Gogh's The Postman displayed Renoir's Nude with Castenets (1918), Renoir still-lifes and a Windsor chair from the 1700's.    

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of Van Gogh's The Postman (Joseph-Etienne Roulin), 1889. Oil on canvas: 25 7/8 x 21 3/4 in. (65.7 x 55.2 cm). BF37

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery views of Van Gogh’s Houses and Figure, 1890. Oil on canvas: 20 1/2 x 15 15/16 in. (52 x 40.5 cm). BF136

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Girl with a Jump Rope: Portrait of Delphine Legrand (detail), 1876. Oil on canvas: 42 1/4 x 27 15/16 in. (107.3 x 71 cm) BF137

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of Claude Monet's The Studio Boat. Oil on canvas: 28 5/8 x 23 5/8 in. (72.7 x 60 cm) BF730

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Paul Cézanne's Bathers at Rest, 1876-77. Oil on canvas: 32 3/8 × 39 13/16 in. (82.2 × 101.2 cm) BF906

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Two Cézanne paintings on view in Paris to Provence: Terracotta Pots and Flowers, 1891-92 (Oil on canvas: 36 3/8 × 28 7/8 in. (92.4 × 73.3 cm) BF235 ), & Bibemus Quarry, c. 1895 (Oil on canvas: 36 1/4 × 28 3/4 in. (92 × 73 cm) BF 34)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) View of the Paris to Provence exhibition: (from left) Henri Matisse's Blue Still Life (1907) & Renoir's Nude in a Landscape, c. 1917.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Henri Matisse's Blue Still Life (1907). Oil on canvas: 35 5/16 × 45 15/16 in. (89.7 × 116.7 cm) BF185

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) The final gallery of Paris to Provence, showing (from left) Modigliani's  Girl with a Polka-Dot Blouse (1919), Soutine's Woman in Blue (1919) and Modigliani's Portrait of the Red-Headed Woman (1918).

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Dr. Cindy Kang at the press preview of Paris to Provence.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Giorgio de Chirico's Sophocles and Euripides, 1925. Oil on canvas: 28 7/8 × 23 5/8 in. (73.3 × 60 cm) BF575

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Vincent van Gogh's The Factory, 1887. Oil on canvas: 18 1/8 x 21 7/8 in. (46 x 55.6 cm) BF303

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of Cézanne's Young Man and Skull, 1896-98. Oil on canvas: overall: 51 3/16 x 38 3/8 in. (130 x 97.5 cm) BF929

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Visitors to the Paris to Provence exhibition, admiring Édouard Manet's Laundry, 1876. Oil on canvas: 57 1/4 x 45 1/4 in. (145.4 x 114.9 cm) BF957

 

Art Eyewitness Review : Matisse and Renoir at the Barnes Foundation

 

     Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia

June 23 – September 8, 2024

Reviewed by Ed Voves                                                                   

Original photography by Anne Lloyd

The old saying, “Two’s company, three’s a crowd,” needs to be reinterpreted in light of the summer 2024 exhibition at the Barnes Foundation, Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes.

The “two’s company” part of the proverb is easy enough to grasp. Two grand masters of French painting, Henri Matisse (1869–1954) and Pierre Auguste Renoir (1842-1919) cultivated a warm friendship during the last years of Renoir’s life. In part, this exhibition considers their shared love of art during years marked by global war and Renoir’s excruciating physical suffering caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

Who is the third, possibly intruding, member of the relationship?

Dr. Albert C. Barnes.

The impact, influence and insights of Dr. Barnes are everywhere to be perceived in this moderately sized, superbly-presented exhibition.

Firstly, Barnes collected the works of both artists in “depth.” The Barnes collection features 181 Renoirs and 59 paintings by Matisse. The quality of these works needs to be underscored as well. One can say that six (at least) of the greatest paintings by Matisse were purchased by Barnes and are now on display at the museum. Several of these, including Le bonheur de vivre, also called The Joy of Life (1905-06), are featured in the exhibition. 

                                           

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

 Henri Matisse’s Le Bonheur de vivre, (The Joy of Life),1905-1906 

 With Renoir, Barnes obviously purchased his works with personal passion, rather than strictly critical appraisal. Barnes admitted as much. There are many masterpieces by Renoir, however, among the astonishing array amassed by Dr. Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Leaving the Conservatory, 1876–1877

As noted by the exhibition curators, Barnes favored Renoir’s later works rather than those painted during the early years of Impressionism.Two of the most significant works by Renoir in the exhibit, however, date from the 1870s. Renoir's late works, celebrating the female nude, would fall into disfavor, as did similar paintings by Matisse,especially from the 1920's. Barnes seldom heeded the critical opinions of others and kept buying works by both artists.

It is, thus, almost impossible to consider Renoir and Matisse without some acknowledgement of the role of Dr. Barnes as collector. However, there is another aspect of this artistic “three-some” that is more problematical. The “Barnes Method” of presenting art does not always work to the advantage of individual paintings or sculptures when appreciated on their own merits.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) 

Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation. Matisse's Two Young Girls in a Red and Yellow Interior,1947, appears above a 1700's Slant-top Desk

Dr. Barnes’ technique emphasized group or “ensemble” displays, a juxtaposing of celebrated oil paintings with smaller works on paper, folk art, ancient artifacts, hand-crafted furniture and utensils from daily life.

A good example of this approach is the ensemble anchored by Renoir’s Mussel-Fishers at Berneval (1879). It is one of the key works by Renoir on view in Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Mussel-Fishers at Berneval, 1879

As it usually appears on the second floor of the Barnes Foundation, Renoir’s impressive depiction of children from a coastal fishing village in Normandy is hung above an 18^th century Pennsylvania German wooden chest. Displayed on the chest are pewter vessels and redware ceramic objects from the 1800’s. In close proximity are 16^th century iron andirons. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation, showing the usual ensemble display of Renoir's Mussel-Fishers at Berneval, 1879

This visual orchestration certainly creates an atmosphere of rustic charm surrounding Mussel-Fishers at Berneval, though I am not sure if that was Dr. Barnes' intention. Whatever the organizational planning for this ensemble, I never cease to be impressed by it when visiting the Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes,

 showing (from left) Renoir’s Prominade, 1905, Mussel-Fishers at Berneval, and Leaving the Conservatory, 1876–1877

Renoir’s Mussel-Fishers at Berneval is presented in a very different manner in the current exhibition. It is mounted between the 1905 portrait of Renoir's young son, Claude, and his nurse, Prominade, and Renoir's Leaving the Conservatory from 1876-77. In keeping with modern-day museum standards, it is a graceful and spacious arrangement. But it certainly is not in “sync” with the Barnes method.

Why did the curators of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters depart from the Barnes method? A very prosaic reason, rather than an abrupt change in institutional policy, provides the answer.

The Barnes Foundation opened its center-city Philadelphia location on May 12, 2012. Over a decade of heavy-foot traffic necessitated refinishing work on the upper-level floors of the building. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) 

           Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation, showing Matisse’s       Three Sisters (Les Trois soeurs) in their usual display configuration

Rather than put all of the beloved works of art in storage, a brilliant alternative was found: mount a special exhibition of the second-floor paintings by Renoir and Matisse, a display which would recall their friendship during the final years of the “war to end all wars.”

In 1917, Matisse traveled to the south of France for a respite from the stresses of the war. He had been rejected from military service because of his age and health, but members of his family were trapped behind German lines and one his sons was serving in the French army, the second soon to follow.

The initial meeting on December 31, 1917, at Renoir’s home at Les Collettes, was strained. Renoir nursed some lingering resentment for Matisse, leader of the Fauves. Matisse and his “wild beast” colleagues had undermined the Impressionist aesthetic of “on-the-spot” depiction of the transitory state of nature. 

"Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul," Matisse had declared, a remark which left a lot of room for interpretation.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Detail of a 1917 photo of Henri Matisse & Pierre Renoir

Matisse and Renoir quickly warmed to each other. Thereafter, Matisse visited often, especially as Renoir, wracked with pain, neared death in 1919. How could an artist of great soul like Matisse resist the withered little man of unquenchable spirit who proclaimed, “The pain passes, Matisse, but the beauty remains.”

Matisse could not resist and neither will you, if you are fortunate to visit the Barnes for this unusual presentation of masterworks by Renoir and Matisse.

The curators of this wonderful exhibition, Cindy Kang and Corinne Chung, did resist a contemporary trend in gallery display. This is the “in-dialog” methodology of hanging two (seemingly) similar paintings by different artists, side-by-side. The rival paintings can then “duke-it-out”, at least in the minds of inquisitive patrons.

Instead, the Barnes curators chose a chronological approach, with alternating galleries devoted to works by Renoir and then to Matisse. This enables us to trace the development of both artists up to their tense introduction on New Years Eve 1917. Crucially for Matisse, this presentation model informs our appreciation of the continuing evolution of his art after Renoir's death.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Cindy Kang discussing works by Renoir at the press preview for 

Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing Matisse’s Three Sisters (Les Trois soeurs) series,1917

 There certainly are "pros" as well as "cons" for the in-dialog display technique. It is interesting to speculate on whether that might have worked in the case of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) 

Gallery view of Manet/Degas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met’s 2023 Manet/Degas utilized the in--dialog approach and it succeeded brilliantly. Of course, Manet and Degas were rivals – “frenemies” – and direct comparison of their works was appropriate. The same was true for MOMA's exhibit back in 2005 devoted to the painting sojourns of Cezanne and Pissarro in Pontoise during the 1870's. Painting with Pissarro as his companion and mentor helped liberate Cezanne's art. 

The irony of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes is that the relationship of the two painters was a true dialog about art. Matisse and Renoir covered a wide expanse of topics in their conversations. Renoir still had a sharp mind, an earthy sense of humor and, with two sons recovering from war wounds, a bitter attitude about the futile "meat-grinder" tactics of the Great War.

"Renoir," Matisse recalled, "said it should be the old and infirm sent to die in holes, not the young with their lives before them."

The best place to consider the "dialog" between Matisse and Renoir - in conjunction with the Barnes exhibit - is Hilary Spurling's biography, Matisse the Master, published in 2005. Two short excerpts from this wonderful book will suffice to set the tone of the encounters between these masters of art:

He (Matisse) came regularly in the early evening to sit with the old man, who was gripped as the light faded by dread of the night's suffering ahead. They swapped gossip, told frisky stories, compared notes about their beginnings (Renoir said he spent the proceeds from his first picture sales on a sack of haricot beans to feed his children.) ... They discussed technique, reputation, posterity, the whole question of shifting focus and vision that had been the main battlefield for their two generations.

One of the prime subjects of conversation was Renoir's work-in-progress, Composition, Five Bathers. This Arcadian scene of nudes in the Rubins' tradition was Renoir's response to the horrors of death and suffering which had engulfed the world in 1914 - and to his own private, physical suffering.

Matisse thought highly of Renoir's Composition - Five Bathers. So did Dr. Barnes, who purchased the now controversial painting.It can be seen in a nearby gallery in the Barnes regular, first floor, exhibition area.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bather Gazing at Herself in the Water, 1910

Dr. Barnes bought quite a number of Renoir's late nudes, like Bather Gazing at Herself in the Water, from 1910, on view in the exhibition. The esteem of Barnes and Matisse for these robustly-figured nudes is shared by few today. A similar cloud of disapproval likewise shrouds the nudes and scantily-clad odalisques which absorbed much of Matisse's time and energy during the 1920's.

Whatever one's reaction to a work like Moorish Woman (The Raised Knee), Matisse's career path had been largely decided by one of his signature works in the Barnes Collection, created at the height of the Fauvist revolution.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

 Henri Matisse’s Red Madras Headdress, 1907

Matisse”s Red Madras Headdress (Le Madras rouge) was painted between the end of April and mid-July 1907. An earlier, more sketch-like version was created shortly before. This portrait of Matisse’s wife, Amélie, is one of his greatest works, setting a standard of achievement which Matisse was to struggle to match for many years thereafter.

Red Madras Headdress is a work of great psychological insight, almost a signature portrait of European identity at the start of the twentieth century. Clad in an exotic head scarf, Matisse’s protagonist (Amélie) radiates independence, candor, skepticism and more than a touch of coy sensuality.

Temporarily liberated from its crowded “Barnes Method” location, Red Madras Headdress asserts itself as one of the great works of Matisse. This is the face of the young, self-confident twentieth century, painted by the "King of the Fauves."

The uncluttered placement of Red Madras Headress allows us to raise a further issue. Why did Matisse not follow-up this striking portrait with more of the same caliber? In fact, Matisse would never again paint such a portrait, with this level of bold, direct articulation of the modern spirit.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 

Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing Matisse’s Red Madras Headdress

In the years after he painted Red Madras Headdress, Matisse began to explore different, less radical paths for creating art. The social implications of Modernism were becoming obvious – and not all were reassuring to him. Though interested in Cubism, Matisse did not embrace the new movement nor any of the other "isms" which followed. 

In 1908, Matisse wrote an essay whose most famous statement would be used by art critics and avant garde artists to denounce and heap scorn upon him.

“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter, a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provided relaxation from physical fatigue.”.

Matisse may well have regretted the "armchair" example (it is sometimes omitted from the quote). For Matisse, the years just prior and, especially, during World War I were marked by a search for "an art of balance, of purity and serenity."

This search brought Matisse to the door of Renoir's home on New Year'a Eve, 1917. There he found an arthritic old man with a paint brush tied to bandaged fingers, painting his vision of Arcadia. 

Years later, during the aftermath of World War II, Matisse would follow Renoir's lead and paint a series called the Vence Interiors.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

 Henri Matisse’s Two Young Girls in a Coral Interior, Blue Garden, 1947 

 Elderly, careworn, still suffering from a near-death encounter with cancer in 1941, Matisse  could not even stand for long periods in front of an easel. Yet, he finally achieved his aim of creating images of "balance, of purity and serenity."

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Dr. Albert Barnes took note and purchased two of the Vence Interiors. These were to be the last works by Matisse to enter the Barnes Collection.  These small, meditative paintings are the perfect works of art to conclude Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

 Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes,  

 showing two of Matisse's Vence Interiors

Perfect works too, to illustrate Matisse's indomitable creative spirit and how he came to embody, how he came to live Renoir's immortal words, “The pain passes, Matisse, but the beauty remains.”

 ***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                                                                          

Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd

Introductory and first image:  Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Henri Matisse’s Le Bonheur de vivre, also called The Joy of Life, between October 1905-1906. Oil on canvas Overall: 69 1/2 x 94 3/4 in. (176.5 x 240.7 cm) The Barnes Foundation

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Leaving the Conservatory (La Sortie du conservatoire), 1876–1877 Oil on canvas: 73 13/16 x 46 1/4 in. (187.5 x 117.5 cm) The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Matisse's Two Young Girls in a Red and Yellow Interior, 1947, appears above a 1700's Slant-top Desk.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Mussel-Fishers at Berneval (Pêcheuses de moules à Berneval, côte normand) 1879. Oil on canvas: 69 3/8 x 51 1/4 in. (176.2 x 130.2 cm) The Barnes Foundation

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Barnes Foundation, showing the usual ensemble display of Renoir’s Mussel-Fishers at Berneval, 1979.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing (from left) Renoir’s Prominade, 1905, Mussel-Fishers at Berneval.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing (from left) Renoir’s Prominade, 1905, Mussel-Fishers at Berneval, and Leaving the Conservatory, 1876–1877

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Detail of a 1917 photo of Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Dr. Cindy Kang of the Barnes Foundation, discussing works of art by Renoir at the press preview of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing Henri Matisse’s Three Sisters (Les Trois soeurs) series, painted between April to mid-July 1917. The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Gallery view of the Manet/Degas exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)  Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bather Gazing at Herself in the Water, 1910. Oil on canvas: 25 13/16 x 32 in. (65.5 x 81.3 cm) 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Henri Matisse’s Red Madras Headdress (Le Madras rouge), painted between the end of April and mid-July 1907. Oil on canvas: 39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in. (100 x 81 cm) The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing Matisse's Red Madras Headdress.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Henri Matisse’s Two Young Girls in a Coral Interior, Blue Garden (Deux fillettes, fond corail, jardin bleu), Between May-June 1947 Oil on canvas Overall: 25 1/2 x 19 5/8 in. (64.8 x 49.8 cm) The Barnes Foundation

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes, showing two of Matisse's Vence Interiors.