The BBC documentary is called Becoming Matisse and ‘tells the tumultuous story of his early life. Matisse (b. 1869) picked up a paintbrush at the late age of 21, and the next 15 years saw him turn his back on the bourgeois aspirations of his parents and teachers’ (here). ‘L’Atelier Rouge (The Red Studio) dates from 1911 when Matisse had undeniably ‘become’ Matisse. It ‘features a small retrospective of his recent painting, sculpture, and ceramics, displayed in his studio. The artworks appear in colour and in detail, while the room’s architecture and furnishings are indicated only by negative gaps in the red surface. The composition’s central axis is a grandfather clock without hands – it is as if, in the oasis of the artist’s studio, time were suspended’ (here).
15 May 2020
