Thursday, August 11, 2005

Matisse show at the Met

Been a while since the last post. I went up to NYC over the weekend, and spent most of Saturday soaking in art -- most of it at the Met, where I saw this fantastic little show on Matisse and the collection of fabrics and textiles he owned. They were an important element in his work -- because it stimulated his composition, sense of color, and how he approached the human figure. I'm surprised that this is seen as a "new" idea in understanding Matisse, but maybe it is because I come from a similar background -- my mother used to work in the clothing industry, and I remember going with her to the fabric stores all the time. The paintings are known, but there are a lot of drawings and works that I hadn't seen before, lots from private collections that are superb.