Matisse - Odalisque in Red Jacket

Henri Matisse is one of my favourite artists, his decorative, colourful style appeals to me.   He caused quite an uproar in the art world in his early years with his bold use of colour and sometimes distorted forms.  Although his paintings look effortless and joyful, he worked very hard and was very meticulous in studying a subject and composition.  For instance, for his Pink Nude in 1935, he made about 22 or 23 paintings before finishing the final one.  

This painting, Odalisque in Red Jacket was painted in 1927, during his 'Nice-period' where he enjoyed the South of France and painted some of his famous works.  It shows again how he strived to distill a form to its essential, making it look effortless, but in fact working very hard to achieve it, almost obsessively.  He has been quoted to describe his work as 'a construction of coloured surfaces' - he sure was able to find a harmony even when using so many colours.

This beautiful 40 x 50cm version of his painting is fairly challenging and has 28 colours.  Each box contains a stretched, printed and numbered canvas, paint, brushes and a page detailing the numbers for an extra reference.