Matisse in Morroco by Jeff Koehler, 2025
The book focuses on Matisse's 1912 and 1913 travels to Tangier where his use of color to capture the essense of people flourished. His paints are filled with rich fabric that he carried around with him.
Similar to Van Gogh, Matisse grew up in a textile town where both men gained an appreciation for color and patterns.
Understanding what the Moroccon Triptych (painted in 1912) - Landscape Viewed from a Window, Zorah on the Terrace, and the Kasbah Gate - represents makes me see Matisse's work with new eyes.
His Morrocon Cafe (1913) with it's wash of blue, strokes of limbs and white turbans and clear black keyhole arches is a masterpiece. It also includes two goldfishes, a theme throughout his paintings.
The bright colors are muted during World War I, reflected Matisse's mood and despair with friends serving in the war when he was deemed too old to do so. The Moroccans is an abstract painting from 1916 that started with black as the base color. Matisse has been credited with introducing black as a color itself when previously, it had been used to represent shadows.
Matisse was fortunate in that he had a wealthy sponsor in Russian businessman Sergei Shchukin who supported him and his art. Shchukin funded his trip to Morrocco, his studio and provided income for Matisse so that he could focus on painting. During Lenin's revolution, Shchukin's extensive collection of Matisses were confiscated. One of his most famous works, Dance, was scorned by Russian soldiers and left to be burned, but the canvas survived.
Matisse was fortunate in that he was recognized for his art while still alive. His first taste of praise was with the bright colors of his fauve paintings, but then his paintings were scorned and mocked, while Picasso and others led the cubist movement. Matisse continued to paint and with the influence of his time in Tangier, was able to achieve success as a painter.
