The Fundamental Aims of Portraiture: Creative

Back to the fundamental aims of portraiture, the creative aim is one that attempts to express an essence of the artist’s perception for the portrait.

Henri Matisse, the most dominate figure of the revolutionary early 20^th century art movement, Fauvism loved to create portraits rich with surface texture, lively linerar patterns, and BOLD contrasting colors to capture the essence of the figure rather than the realistic representation of them. For Matisse, color had specific meaning; color defined specific subjects.

Here is a gorgeous portrait of his wife, Amélie, in a conventional portraiture pose but painted with intense and un-naturalistic colors and shadows. Matisse defines the figure and background with dramatic patches, swabs, and dabs of color. Describing his technique, he once said: “For me, a color is a force. My pictures are made up of four or five colors that collide with one another, and the collision gives a sense of energy. When I put green, it doesn’t mean grass. When I put blue, it doesn’t mean sky.”

Her dress and fashionably large hat were actually black. And while he captures her delicate facial features and expressive round eyebrows, she was not in actually, green in complexion. Instead, this portrait is a creative expression of her vivacity, bold spirit, and feminine beauty.