Notre Dame with Violet Walls 1902

Curator: Standing before us is Henri Matisse's "Notre Dame with Violet Walls," painted in 1902. Editor: It's incredibly somber. I’m immediately struck by these imposing violet and burgundy tones dominating the Notre Dame cathedral itself. Did something heavy happen around this time, because there’s an undeniable gravity in it. Curator: While still quite early in his artistic development, we see Matisse wrestling with capturing a mood of urban disquiet through fauvist and expressionist lenses, that is by use of pure color instead of an academic naturalism. The heavy browns in the foreground, the somewhat sickly yellows…it's hardly postcard Paris, is it? Editor: Hardly! It looks as though we're viewing Notre Dame from a distance, perhaps through the opening in a building, and the perspective feels…off. Almost as though the city is pressing in. You mentioned urban disquiet and I'd concur. It looks almost industrial and certainly alienated. And notice, even in such dark coloring there are such distinct brushstrokes, all swirling around creating a sense of discombobulation. Curator: I’d describe that dark massing on the right as a powerful pictorial device, an almost brutal stroke adding both depth and mystery. You're right that we're viewing it from afar, but also the positioning allows Matisse to consider the city more broadly in all of its rapid changes during this period of modernization. Paris was booming and struggling all at once, and his picture reflects that. Editor: So in a way the Notre Dame, usually a symbol of resilience and permanence, here reflects the turmoil of change swirling around it, with those violent colors conveying…well, maybe even the loss of innocence of a rapidly changing Paris? That tower in the background on the left seems like it's waving a little flag of surrender. Curator: Perhaps you are right. In "Notre Dame with Violet Walls," we see much more than a cityscape. We witness a pivotal moment in the city's soul, observed with a rawness of emotion that few artists before had ever tried. Editor: An urban snapshot steeped in a strange psychological depth...it stays with you, doesn't it?