Male Model 1900

Editor: So, here we have Henri Matisse's "Male Model" from around 1900, rendered in oil paint. It feels raw, almost unfinished, in its depiction of the human form. How should we approach such a figure, given the time it was produced and its stylistic choices? Curator: Look at the way Matisse applied the paint—the thick impasto, the visible brushstrokes. It’s not about illusionism, but about the physical act of painting. Consider, then, what the labour of depicting the male nude represented at the turn of the century in artistic circles. This piece marks a shift in art production, foregrounding the hand of the artist and the very materiality of paint. Editor: It's interesting that you bring up the materiality because it makes the male body almost secondary to the execution of the painting. It raises questions about what exactly is being consumed or fetishized in the act of viewing this work: the body, the process, or the status of fine art. Curator: Exactly. What are your thoughts on the artist’s deliberate choices concerning surface treatment and palette and their relationship to art and the academy? Editor: It seems the painting wants to divorce itself from academic tradition, and instead celebrates an artist who enjoys manipulating pigments. Curator: How might we contextualize that “enjoyment” within the larger economy of artistic labour and consumption? Editor: That’s a great way to frame it. It makes me reconsider my initial understanding. Curator: And me to, I’ve never fully framed the joy of creating in such a material context. Thanks for that idea.