"I used to make a little parrot in color, and just like that, I became a little parrot, and I found myself in the works, and Chinese said that I wanted to grow with the tree, and I think there is nothing more true than this sentence." 」 - Matisse
Matisse in a colorful paper cut
The picture of Icarus is very simple, including only the shape and the color of the composition. In the middle of the cobalt blue sky background without the slightest sense of realism, a black and heavy figure fell vertically. He tilted his head and opened his arms to form a ring, like a saint embracing the posture of acceptance, and like a person in the water clinging to the pillar and not letting go¬ - the hanging pillar of life force. A bright red dot on the left chest on the black body protrudes, jumping out of the other larger areas of color, and also becomes the center of the picture, shining and shining.
The Clown,1943. This clip art was a draft of an illustration of the book Jazz
The Sword-Devouring Acrobat, 1943-1944, 58.5×69.8cm
The black figure's neck is crooked, the body is tilted, and compared to the upper body that can give people a relatively relaxed feeling, its legs are more unreasonablely thick, bloated, disorderly, clumsy, and the rocks in the form of waves drag the figure to sink, and the lower center of the body seems to have a sharp and piercing hidden pain. In the blue background around the figure, there are some sparks, stars-like things twinkling, and some of the yellow figures are cracked, some seem to be upward impact, and some are like heavy falls. Looking at the picture again, maybe when "it" is not "Icarus", he can be dancing in front of the fireworks of the jumping curtain, or the muzzle of the gun is hit... Anything, in its living, vibrant form, is precisely because of the immense energy and imagination that its extremely simple form inspires. Overall, it is a pure and simple painting that is vivid and bright and makes people feel the joy of power.
Baroque painter Dominic. Icarus in a painting by Domenico Piola
The work is mythological, and in Greek legend, Icarus was killed by falling into the water because he flew too high and the wax on his wings was melted by the sun, and this painting shows the scene of him in the process of falling. It is composed in a central composition, and Icarus' huge body occupies the center of the picture, which is very prominent. The background color of the whole work is purer, the black body forms a strong contrast between light and dark on the top, and the jumping red dots under the dark background are more distinct, creating a fairytale-like unforgettable visual effect.
Nudes II, 1952, 116.2 × 81.9cm, Centre Pompidou, Paris
It is included in the author's later jazz music, made of brisk paper cuts and collages, using an elegant and minimalist form of linearism. This work abandons the cumbersome portrayal of the body, abandons the shaping of light and shade and volume, and all the forms are expressed in flat color and smooth curves, realizing a high degree of simplification of the image, line and color, and conveying the artist's free, pure and determined feelings. Although Matisse's paper-cutting style is minimalist and not simple, "it looks like a child's handicraft", when people really try it, they will find that the body of the dexterous upper body, the slender waist and the bulky lower limbs requires pure and exquisite skills, and the childlike innocence and lightness of the work condenses the painter's extremely deep artistic accomplishment and skill. The colors of "Icarus" are bright and bright, of course, this color application also follows the artistic spirit of Fauvism, who believe that color has its own independent life, and this painting seems to emphasize "color first". The use of bright and heavy colors to create a strong effect, to achieve a certain degree of color liberation, fully show the pursuit of emotional expression of the expressionist tendency, can convey the author's deep, strong and complex emotions, but also formed a unique touching aesthetic experience.
In terms of space, texture and overall visual language, "Icarus" seems to have little regard for the tradition of painting, is not bound by form and even has a creative challenge to himself before, establishing a new language system that is rare in that era, and through the bold reorganization and application of various picture elements, he has formed the layout, contrast, rhythm, balance and unity in his works, producing an extremely concise but strong effect, impacting and expanding the extension of painting and art.
Snail, 1952, 286×287cm, Tate, London
Matisse, the author of the painting, is a representative of Fauvism, but "Icarus" is not a typical painting of the Fauvist style, in addition to the exquisite art form, the most important thing in this work is the author's deep feelings. Because of the background of the Second World War, the painter had to be separated from his wife and children and fled far away, when the whole of Europe was soaked with the atmosphere of war death and repression, and Matisse himself had just undergone a major and dangerous operation and was almost dying, and even lacked the strength to continue painting, and could only live in a wheelchair. The yellow sparks that shine in the picture also allude to the stinging sparks that explode in the war, and the black figure in the fall resembles a heavy corpse.
White pigeon in Matisse's paper-cut work
Justin Bieber "Cold Water" single cover (Image: QQ Music)
At this moment, Matisse is like the rapidly falling Icarus, trying to get close to the end of the glory but inevitably, and the fall of Matisse is not a real fall, but a rebirth of the soul. Although his body was restricted, his heart was not defeated by disasters and injuries, but was more free and pure. The whole head and whole of the figure is oblique, and here is the meaning of victory, the weight of his body is concentrated on the feet, he is descending, falling down, but giving people a feeling of obedience, as if what happens next is inevitable, but this cannot hinder the fast-beating and rising red heart, which profoundly expresses the disdain for death, the ultimate love of life and life, and the strong joy of rebirth. In fact, paper-cutting is also an act of "summoning spirits", in the second half of the work of "Jazz Music", even many of them have thrown off the symbolism and meaning of the picture, completely let go and just returned to the pleasant, free, pure paper-cut painting creation itself, and art has returned to the most primitive essence.
The King's Sorrows, 1952, 292× 386cm Cut Art, Centre Pompidou, Paris
As carried by Icarus, Matisse's life has been in the direction of the purest, brightest, and most harmonious, and his neo-impressionist works, presented as early as the Salon de La Independence in 1905, are titled after the verse of Baudelaire's "Please Journey": "Ah, there is only order and beauty, luxury, tranquility and pleasure." Before his death, Matisse said: "I will keep the torment and pain in my heart forever, showing only the beauty and joy of the world." "From our paper-cut work, it can be seen that Matisse did not pour out anything or pour out anything in art, but looked for peace and happiness from it, washing the scarred body and mind, and Matisse's works of art such as "Icarus" gave people a comfortable and safe reclining like an easy chair.
The Joy of Life, oil painting, 1905-1906, 175×241cm Barnes Collection
With the development of modernist philosophy, Nietzsche ended the traditional Western philosophy: God is dead, authority and standard are dead, human beings are a big experimental field, life has no ultimate state, no purpose, people suddenly realize that they are in a barren paradise, life seems to be meaningless. Mattis, on the other hand, pays more attention to the process of life, the precious gift of life bit by bit, and enjoys a life full of pain and bitterness. There is no point in being alive, so "living" itself becomes the meaning of being alive. Because of the existence of the heart, the glorious shining red dot, the courage to never compromise, with the courage to embrace the glory, the spark of the explosion also becomes a star, the belief in life in the body of death and fall is immortal, happiness and love are eternal, "Icarus" is a crash, but more importantly, "Icarus" is also a transcendence and flight.
Open Windows, 1905, 55.2× 46cm, Mrs. Whitney Collection
I love this work very much, although the style is extremely simple and innocent, but at first glance I was deeply attracted by it. After understanding its creative background, graphic connotations and conveying emotions, I was strongly shocked by this artwork and longed to pursue the joy and tranquility that Matisse realized in my life. Matisse led minimalist art, and from the core content and other aspects, we can see that art can play a role in this relatively confused, skeptical and wavering era, and the design pays attention to humanistic care and aesthetic perception of the value of transcending small interests.
Paper-cut works such as "Icarus" had a profound impact on the art and various fields of later generations, which promoted the development of minimalist style, inspired the posters in the form of silhouettes, and influenced the later pop art. In the field of modern design, many images, clothing, logos, illustrations, etc. can find the shadow of Matisse's paper-cut, such as the 2012 London Olympics logo and the cute Miffy rabbit image. In fact, works such as Icarus helped creators and the public to pioneer and embrace another direction of art and design.
Miffy Rabbit ©Mercis BV
The constituent elements of Miffy's rabbit use only two small eyes and an "X" mouth to express Miffy's complex emotions such as sadness, happiness, and excitement. The style stems from Dick Bruner, a minimalist who was a big fan of Matisse, who said that "Matisse's paintings give an exceptionally strong impression." Obviously, it is such a simple painting, but it can directly touch people's hearts. "Therefore, many of today's picture books are no longer mostly based on cumbersome pictures, but use children's vision and children's perspectives to rise a clumsy and natural picture book style trend." Therefore, these works are considered not to be too finely painted, not too complex. Therefore, their picture is simple. Allowing the reader to expand his imagination, Matisse inspired people to express art in as simple a way as possible.
Mattis sketches outdoors
However, Dick Bruner's Miffy picture book was first published without impressing adults, who were too simple and lacked detail in the eyes of adults. But with mattis's Icarus and other paper-cut works, innocent children loved his books from the beginning, and they were immediately attracted by the color of the picture and could recognize all the shapes in it. For he removes all the superfluous parts, leaving only the simplest drawings, and each picture speaks for itself. This is also in line with the principle of "less is more" in the design field. Dick Bruner's work uses the secret of Matisse's paper-cutting: the use of simple and pure form, color, expression of inner return to the true thoughts, feelings and pictures, this kind of sincere and pure return from complexity to simplicity, not bound by the painting style and the eyes of others, do as you please without overstepping, not only not "beast" but how gentle and popular, become a classic can be widely applied to various fields.
Text/ Sun Xiaoqi
Source / Art China