Open Window, Collioure - 1905
National Gallery of Art, Washington
21.75" x 18.1"

Open Window was painted during a time when Matisse grew especially fond of the South of France area. This is a painting showing the view out the open window of the title onto the sailing boats at Collioure. Matisse shows us the beauty that can be achieved using the Fauvist techniques he himself pioneered. The use of light and warm, bright colours in both the window and plants and the harbour with its sailing boats is unrivalled. Matisse uses the colours of the flowers and ivy at the window itself to complement the sunlit harbour and the sailing boats which lie in it. There is a lot of red in the painting, just as in "Harmony in Red" another famous Matisse work. The exaggerated brush strokes which he used also add to the effect created by the bright warm colours. This is the reason why Fauvism became so popular at the beginning of the century and why it is still in use today.