ART MASTERPIECE: Purple Robe and Anemones, 1937
By Henri Matisse
Pronunciation: On-ree Mah-tees
Keywords: Pattern, Line, and Color
Pattern: The repetition of shapes, lines, or color in a design
Line: An outline or boundary of a figure or space. A line can vary in length, width, direction,
curvature, or color.
Color: The hue (actual color), value (lightness or darkness) and intensity (brightness or dullness)
of an object
Grade:
3rd
Activity: Oil pastel resist with watercolors
Meet The Artist: (5 min)
Favorite artist nicknamed “The Master of Color”
• Henri Matisse was born in France in 1869
• His parents owned a general store and his Dad wanted Henri to be a lawyer. When he was
a boy, Henri didn’t make very much artwork but liked to paint dishes and make hats.
• When Henri was 22, he became a lawyer but found it boring. Later had appendicitis and
while he was bed ridden for a whole year, his mother gave him a paint set. It changed his
life from that day forward. He gave up being a lawyer and decided to be an artist.
• Matisse went to art school but didn’t like the realistic way he was being taught to paint.
He wanted to use bolder, brighter colors and be more expressive.
• Matisse liked to collect pieces of patterned fabric when he traveled. He would then look
at the fabric while he painted.
• Eventually, Matisse’s art became famous for its bright colors and vivid patterns.
• He was good friends with Pablo Picasso. Picasso was jealous of Matisse's fame and they
were very competitive with each other.
• When he became too old to paint, he switched to making brightly colored cutouts with
scissors. Matisse lived to be 85 years old
Discussion: (10 min)
• In 1937 Lydia Delectorskaya posed for Matisse in a purple robe. At the time Matisse had
no intention to paint a portrait that looked like a photograph. When accused of painting
unrealistic images of women Matisse explained, "I do not create a woman, I make a
picture." He readily admitted that his images were not faithful re-creations of reality.
• What do you see in this picture?
• How many different colors do you see? Can you name some of them?
• What different types of lines did Matisse use? (The thick, black outlines give
definition to the shapes in the composition, and the white delicate, l lines on the tabletop
seem to be more than just decoration. Lines also form the stripes on the wall, floor, and
robe).
• Can you see patterns in this picture? Patterns are when lines or designs are repeated. Notice how he used pattern in the robe to show the creases of the robe.
• How many different patterns do you see? Let’s count them?
• What items in the picture don’t have a pattern? Why do you think he left those without
pattern?
• Why do you think Matisse liked patterns so much? Would the painting look the same if we
took all the patterns away?
• How did Matisse create balance (arrangement of elements such as color size to achieve
equality) in this picture? Using color (areas of bright colors are placed on each side of
the woman) Using pattern? (similar repeated patterns are balanced—swirls on the end
table and dress, straight lines on the floor and wall)
• Do you like this painting? Why or why not?
Project: Oil pastel resist with watercolors
Supplies Needed:
9 x 12” black construction paper for mounting
7 x 10” White construction paper
Oil pastels-class set
Watercolors-class set
Watercolor brushes-one per student
Water cups- one for every two students
Black fine tip permanent marker-class set
6-8 bottles of Glue
Advance Preparation:
Cut the 9 x 12” white construction paper to 7 x 10” size
Mini Lesson: (5 min)
Have the students fold their scratch paper into fourths. In each box, they should practice using the oil pastels to create a repeating pattern. They should do a different pattern in each
box. Tell them to concentrate on making the pattern uniformly spaced out.
Process: (30-40min)
• Ask the students, what things in your house have patterns on them? (Sheets, Curtains,
Wallpaper, Blankets etc.) Mention again how Matisse collected fabric so that he could use
the designs in his artwork.
• Students will make their own patterns in their artwork.
• Hand out white construction paper to be used as the background
• Have students sketch a scene of a room in their house or one from their imagination. It
should be a simple design. They should not have lots of detail in their sketch. Ask them
to think of “outlining” the major parts of their scene rather than incorporating little details. They should add a few simple items to their room (a lamp, table, vase, etc) but keep
it simple. We will be adding details with our pattern and watercolors.
• Have the kids then outline the major parts of their drawing with black permanent marker.
They should not be filling in detail with the markers. Refer back to Matisse's painting as
an example of how the black line should define the shape of the objects in the scene.
• The students should then fill in parts of their drawing with pattern using oil pastels. Tell
them to consider putting pattern in the walls, the floor, and on other objects like Matisse
did. Remind them that Matisse also left some items in his painting without pattern.
• The students may then watercolor over the different sections of their drawing to fill in
the empty space and provide background color. The oil pastels will act as a resist and will
show through the watercolor.
• Mount the finished project on the black paper.
• Have students sign their masterpiece!
Clean up:
To extend the life of our supplies, please take extra care to make sure all the watercolor brushes are thoroughly rinsed with clean water. They should be stored
bristles up to prevent molding. Also please make sure all the pen caps are securely
fastened, and the watercolors and water cups are clean.