Dance (Matisse)

This is a large painting.

It shows five people dancing. They are a bright red color. They move in a rhythm.

The sky is a deep blue. The ground is green. These colors look very strong.

An artist named Matisse made it. He made it for a man named Shchukin. It hangs in a big museum now.

It is a very famous work. It helps us see new ways to paint. It is a joy to look at.

Henri Matisse made a famous painting called "Dance."

It is a very large piece of art. The painting shows five people dancing. They are a bright, strong red. They move in a rhythm against a green ground. Above them is a deep blue sky. These colors are very bold. Matisse used these colors to show feelings of joy and freedom.

He made this work in 1910. A man named Sergei Shchukin asked for it. Shchukin was a collector of art. He wanted this painting to hang with another work called "Music." They once hung together on a staircase in a large house.

Matisse made a smaller study first. It is called "Dance (I)." That version has paler colors and less detail. The big painting is a key part of his career. It helped change how people make modern art. Today, the large painting hangs in the Hermitage Museum. It is in a city called Saint Petersburg. It is a very important work for people to see.

Henri Matisse made a famous painting called "Dance." This large piece of art is very special to many people. It shows five figures dancing in a circle. The dancers are painted in a strong, bright red. They move against a simple green landscape. Above them, the sky is a deep blue. Matisse used these bold colors to show joy. He wanted the painting to feel like emotional freedom.

Matisse worked on this painting in stages. In March 1909, he made a first version. This version is called "Dance (I)." It is a study used to plan the big work. This study has paler colors and less detail. You can see it today at MoMA in New York. Later, Matisse made a lithograph version in 1939. This was a smaller print made for a magazine. The print has thicker lines and different colors. For example, the sky looks almost black in that version.

This painting has a very interesting history. A Russian businessman named Sergei Shchukin asked for it. He was a collector of art. He wanted it to be a large decorative panel. He also wanted it to hang with a piece called "Music." Before 1917, they hung together on a staircase. This was in Shchukin's mansion in Moscow. The painting was first shown in Paris in 1910. It was shown at the Salon d'Automne.

Many important facts tell us why this art matters. It is a key point in Matisse's long career. It also helped change the way people make modern painting. The large painting lives in the Hermitage Museum. This museum is in Saint Petersburg. Some people link the dance to a famous piece of music. This music is called "The Rite of Spring." It was written by Igor Stravinsky in 1913. The dancing figures in the painting look like those in the music.

We can see how this art connects to other things. The way the figures move reminds us of older art. It looks like a watercolor painting from 1786. That painting was by an artist named Blake. It showed fairies dancing together. Matisse also used a style called Fauvism. This style uses intense, warm colors. It creates a feeling of happiness and life.

Henri Matisse's "Dance" (La Danse) is a monumental oil painting. It is a large decorative panel. This artwork represents a major milestone in Matisse's professional life. Many experts see it as a key point in modern painting. The painting captures a sense of emotional liberation. It also suggests a feeling of hedonism, which means a focus on pleasure. Matisse used bold colors to create this intense energy.

The composition is built around five dancing figures. These figures are painted in a strong, vibrant red. They are arranged in a rhythmic succession. This movement creates a sense of continuous motion. The dancers are set against a very simplified landscape of green. Above them, the sky is a deep, dark blue. This use of color follows the Fauvist style. Fauvism uses intense, warm colors against cool backgrounds. This contrast makes the red figures stand out.

Matisse did not create this masterpiece in a single step. He began with a preliminary version in March 1909. This early work is known as "Dance (I)." It served as a compositional study for the final piece. The study uses much paler colors. It also contains far less detail than the finished painting. This version is currently held at MoMA in New York. It was donated by Nelson A. Rockefeller. He gave it to the museum in honor of Alfred H. Barr Jr.

The history of the painting is tied to a Russian collector. A businessman named Sergei Shchukin commissioned the work. Matisse had a long association with Shchukin. The painting was intended to be a companion to another work called "Music." Until the October Revolution of 1917, they hung together. They were displayed on the staircase of Shchukin's mansion in Moscow. Today, the large painting resides in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Matisse also produced a different version of the work in 1939. This version was a lithograph for the French periodical "Verve." A lithograph is a type of print made from stone or metal. This version was much smaller than the original. It measured 14 by 25 inches with its margins. It was produced by Mourlot Freres in Paris. This print is not a perfect replica of the Hermitage version. It has several distinct differences in color and line.

In the 1939 lithograph, the colors changed significantly. The green landscape became a lime green. The sky appeared virtually black, though some blue remained near the edges. The color areas were uniform and lacked painterly effects. The lines around the figures were also much thicker. These thick lines gave the print the appearance of a woodcut. The entire image was surrounded by a flat frame. This frame used yellow, blue, and black color areas. This style reflects the colored-paper cut-outs Matisse invented later.

"Dance" connects to many other famous works of art and music. Some people associate the painting with Igor Stravinsky's 1913 musical work. That piece is titled "The Rite of Spring." Specifically, it is linked to the "Dance of the Young Girls" section. The arrangement of the figures also recalls older art. The composition is reminiscent of a 1786 watercolor by Blake. That work featured Oberon, Titania, and Puck with dancing fairies. Matisse's work continues to be a vital subject for study.