In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a plethora of arts from various eras and all over the world can be seen. The first exhibited we visited was a little room section within African Arts. In particular, African art was relatively unknown in the late 1800s. That changed after a showcase of African arts in 1914. Struck by the unique characteristics of African art such as the wooden figures’ abstract representations and distorted shapes, great artistic leaders in American and Europe became enamored by them and eventually incorporated some of the African arts’ styles into their own works.
One of the African arts that seemed to influence modern art was a wooden figure by an unidentified Fang artist (Ntumu group) titled “Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble: Seated Male Holding Vessel.” This wood sculpture was made of wood, brass or copper and was in a seating position holding a bowl-like object. Its shape was peculiar and parts appeared to be distorted. It didn’t have a chin; instead, that area was flat while the lips were carved on the area where the chin would be. The way its eyes were carved, without pupils made it seem like it was staring into empty space. The form of its body was almost abstract in that its neck was the same size, and shape, as its body, making the figure appeared to have an extended body while its legs were relatively short. One other thing that sparked interest to American and European artists might be African art’s open exhibitionism in their sculptures. The figure was naked but that didn’t make it feel out of place.
Seated Male Holding Vessel. Photo credits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The abstract and distorted nature of African art was profoundly present in Pablo Picasso’s art titled “Seated Man Reading a Newspaper.” Aside from the title, Picasso’s drawing looked nothing like the sculpture I mentioned above, “Seated Male Holding Vessel.” In fact, it didn’t look like a man sitting and reading a newspaper at all. The drawing was composed of many rectangular shapes and shading where the viewers could somewhat make out a person and perhaps a newspaper as indicated by a large blank rectangular space in the center. That was precisely the point. The Seated Man in Picasso’s work was very abstract; it had its features distorted, indicating a strong resemblance to how African arts were made. Through this, art was no longer rigid and focused on resembling reality. Modern art took on a more abstract perspective, hence, welcoming the possibilities of art in vastly different forms.
Seated Man Reading a Newspaper. Photo credits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Moving on from the African Art section while keeping in mind its influences, we arrived at the gallery, Matisse – In Search of True Painting. The paintings in the gallery were placed chronologically. One of the first paintings that caught my eye after I entered the gallery was Henri Matisse’s Still Life with Purro II (1904-5) painting. Shapes of objects such as shapes of bottles, fruits, and towel seemed to have blended in with the background because so many colorful dots were used to color the painting. It was certainly a very abstract way to paint and portray still life. Next to it was a clearer (shapes more visible) version painted in 1904 titled Still Life with Purro I. As the title indicated, Still Life with Purro I was painted before Still Life with Purro II. The first, however, was not as bright and vivid as the second even though it gave form to the objects much better. The impact just wasn’t the same. The first had a darker, gloomier atmosphere while the second was lively and seemed to be full of motion.
Still Life with Purro II (Left), Still Life with Purro I (Right). Photo credits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It wasn’t a surprised then to see the same style used in another painting called Luxe, calme, et volupté (1904). This painting showed seven ladies picnicking near the shore—some were completely exposed. The element of unrestricted nudity seemed to be influenced by African art. Luxe, calme, et volupté was just one of the many.
Walking further, a pattern seemed to emerge from the layout of the gallery. The gallery purposely showed multiple paintings of the same thing but in different styles to indicate Matisse’s “search” for the true form of painting. Towards the end of the exhibit, the painting with the most variations was probably The Dream (1940). Within nine months, Matisse drew and painted over ten images very abstractly with curvy lines and non-solid shapes. He was meticulously trying to figure out what form or style was the ideal one—the true painting. He explored many templates and styles, changing the shape of the person and her hair, curving the table, turning the angle, playing with the position of the person, and varying the designs on the clothing. Through this process, to Matisse, the true painting seemed to be less rigid like reality and freer like abstractions. Matisse’s final product, The Dream, revealed this through the curvy and disproportional arms, and the slanted table that appeared to tilt downwards. Perhaps, like the title of the painting The Dream, the true painting was one that is can bend reality and curve our perspectives so that a new way of viewing the same thing could be found.
The Dream (Left), Reprint of archival photograph documenting Henri Matisse’s process of painting The Dream (Right). Photo credits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
