''The Open Window'', also known as ''Open Window, Collioure'', is a painting by
Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...
. The work, an oil on canvas, was painted in 1905 and exhibited at the
Salon d'Automne
The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...
in Paris the same year. It was bequeathed in 1998 by the estate of Mrs.
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the '' New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family.
Early life
Whi ...
to the
National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC.
It is an example of the
Fauvist
Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retai ...
style of painting that Matisse became famous for, and for which he was a leader, roughly between the years 1900–1909. ''The Open Window'' depicts the view out the window of his apartment in
Collioure
Collioure (; ca, Cotlliure, ) is a commune in the southern French department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
Geography
The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille (Vermilion Coast), in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement ...
, on the Southern coast of France. We see sailboats on the water, as viewed from Matisse's hotel window overlooking the harbour. He returned frequently to the theme of the open window in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and especially during the years in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
and
Etretat, and in his final years, particularly during the late 1940s.
Henri Matisse loved painting open windows and painted them throughout his career.
See also
*''
Window at Tangier''
References
External links
Image of ''Open Window, Collioure,'' retrieved December 20, 2016
1905 paintings
Paintings by Henri Matisse
Collections of the National Gallery of Art
Ships in art
Fauvism
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