The Racaille Chair 1946

Henri Matisse created ‘The Racaille Chair’ using oil paint in 1946. The initial impression is of bold colour planes: a yellow form dominates against a background of deep red, articulated by a serpentine green line. The materiality of the paint is evident in the texture of brushstrokes, particularly in the yellows, adding a tactile quality. Matisse here is playing with figure-ground relationships. The composition challenges traditional notions of depth and perspective, flattening the space and creating ambiguity. Is the yellow form the chair itself or merely a cushion? The green line, functioning almost as a calligraphic element, traces the chair’s outline and adds to this interplay, questioning the stability of representation. Ultimately, Matisse invites us to reconsider the act of seeing itself. By destabilizing the familiar through abstraction and simplification, he prompts us to engage with the artwork not as a representation of something, but as an object with its own inherent qualities and meanings.