Madame Matisse, The Red Madras Headdress 1907

Henri Matisse painted Madame Matisse, The Red Madras Headdress with oil on canvas. The flat planes of colour create a really decorative effect, and you can see how the process of painting each form has been so important to the overall composition. The blue background, applied in broad strokes, really makes the red madras headdress pop! Check out how the patterns on her dress echo those on the headdress, creating a sense of harmony. The paint is applied thinly, allowing the texture of the canvas to peek through, adding another layer of visual interest. Notice too how the hands holding a yellow stick are so carefully rendered. Every mark feels deliberate, contributing to the painting’s emotional resonance. Matisse’s earlier paintings such as Woman with a Hat feel like a clear point of reference. Both artists play with colour, form, and pattern in ways that really push the boundaries of representation. For Matisse, and many artists, painting is really about exploring, experimenting, and discovering new ways of seeing the world.