Red Studio

"Red Workshop." (a variant translation is "The Red Studio") is among the large dens created by Henri Matisse during 1911, which Alfred Barr - art historian and first director of New York's MoMA - called "symphonic interiors" (this series also includes "The Pink Shop.", "Family portrait.", "Eggplant interior."). The artist himself referred to these richly detailed and decorative works as "still-life interiors". "The Red Studio can also be called Matisse's self-portrait or his artistic portfolio: inside this painting, Matisse schematically depicted 11 of his other works.

All but one of the works depicted in the red interior (Matisse himself destroyed the large pink painting of the nude on the left) have survived to this day: they are paintings "Naked with a white scarf.", "Young Sailor II.", "Still Life with Cyclamen.", "Luxury II.", "Nymph and faun.", "The Old Mill, Corsica.", three sculptures (1, 2, 3) and a decorative plate.

Matisse was planning to sell the Red Studio To Sergei Shchukinwho, by that time, already possessed an impressive collection of his workand even sent it to a Russian collector watercolor sketch the finished painting. But Shchukin proposal rejected. However, in Shchukin's collection of Matisse were also "The Red Room.", and "Pink Workshop" (which, incidentally, includes several canvases that also found their way into the interior of the "Red Workshop").

Having changed several owners, in 1949 The Red Workshop ended up in New York, in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). A whole generation of contemporary American artists was influenced by this painting with its broken, but not completely erased perspective, with its total red color, which hypnotizes and takes hostages. Mark Rothko called Matisse's The Red Workshop one of the most important things, that shaped his style. If it hadn't crossed the Atlantic tightly, there might not have been any American abstract expressionism and color-field painting. At any rate, they would have been different without Matisse.

In 2004, the UK surveyed 500 art experts to compile the list of the most influential works of modern art: Matisse's The Red Studio was ranked fifth (first place went to "Fountain." Duchamp).

Depicted here and there pink, then red studio was located in the estate of Matisse in the Parisian suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. The artist first rented the house with a garden, and then bought - for 73 thousand francs. It would have been impossible if Matisse admirer was not Shchukin, who did not spare money on his masterpieces: only for the panels "The Dance." и "Music." Matisse received 27 thousand from Shchukin. It was for painting these two gigantic canvases that a spacious studio in the garden was set up.

According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the walls in the studio were almost white, with a gray-blue hue. Matisse and initially painted the studio gray-blue, but changed his mind - made the interior red. Curiously, Matisse followed exactly the same path in his search for a dominant colour in 1909, when he painted The Red Room. The Hermitage painting was also initially executed in bluish-grey tones, traces of which are now clearly visible on the lower edge of the canvas.

When Matisse's impressed guests looked around in the actual room for red walls, Matisse explained that there were not and were not any red walls. Surely he had to repeat more than once his spectacular rule, which goes back to Delacroix's notion that accuracy does not equal artistic authenticity. Matisse's rule is: "Don't spoil a good picture with truth.