Still Life with Geranium

Matisse painted this in 1906, the year he was recognized as the leader of the Fauves. It shows a potted geranium on a table surrounded by small figurative sculptures, with a landscape visible behind them. The geranium sits in the center of the composition, its green leaves and red blooms painted in thick, rapid strokes. On either side of the plant are small sculpted figures, one female and one male, rendered in pale colors with simple outlines. The lower half of the canvas is darker, with reds and browns in the table surface. The upper half opens into a lighter scene: a landscape with trees and sky, painted in greens and blues. The contrast between the dark lower half and the pale upper half structures the composition. The brushwork is visible throughout, with thick application of paint that gives the surface a rough texture. Matisse was thirty-seven in 1906. He had been painting since the 1890s but had only recently found the direction that would define his career. The Fauve movement, named by a critic who called the group "wild beasts," had its first group exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in 1905. Matisse was the oldest and most established of the Fauve painters. This painting was made the following year, when the movement was at its peak. Fauvism was a short-lived movement, lasting roughly from 1905 to 1907. It was characterized by intense, non-naturalistic color and thick, direct brushwork. Matisse moved beyond Fauvism after 1907, but the qualities that defined this period, color as a structural element and paint as a physical material, stayed with him for the rest of his career. Cezanne was an important influence on Matisse, and this painting explicitly references Cezanne's approach to still life. Oil on canvas, 100.3 by 81.5 centimeters. Matisse applied the paint in rapid, loaded strokes, building the surface with visible marks. The contrast between the painted figures and the painted plant is deliberate: the figures are flat and linear, the plant is thick and textured. The greens and reds of this painting make it suitable for rooms with plants, natural light, or warm color schemes. It works well in a living room or study with white walls and wood furniture. The 16x20 framed version in a natural wood frame complements the painting's organic subject. This painting is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, part of the Joseph Winterbotham Collection. This is a public domain artwork (CC0), from the Art Institute of Chicago. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 24x36 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.