Portrait of Madame Matisse (Green Stripe) - 1905
Statens Museum Fur Kunst, Copenhagen

The Green Stripe was one of the most controversial paintings on display in the 1905 Salon. The picture is easily recognisable by its strange colouring, the distinctive green stripe down the centre and deliberate crudeness. There is a clear contrast between the dark background colours and the warmer colours on the right-hand side of the face of Madame Matisse. The left-hand side of her face is a darker colour while the background is much brighter. This has the effect of creating a 3-dimensional image as the brighter foreground clearly separates itself from the darker shades of the background on the right-hand side and the opposite effect is achieved on the left-hand side. The green stripe down the centre of her face separates the dark from the bright and is perfectly toned to achieve this effect.