Subjective critique of Portrait of Lydia Delectorskaya

Subjective critique of Portrait of Lydia Delectorskaya

        This painting is an original by Henri Matisse. I have never studied anything about the artist or this specific work of art before I found it through a Google search.
        I find this piece ugly because it's lack of character and definition. The hair just looks like a giant green blob that was tossed onto her head. She has a plain robot-like gaze that doesn't give her any character. Maybe like she is in a trance-like state. It looks like she's wearing business attire, so that could be hinting that she was working, therefore, being focused.
        I feel like the overall colors of the piece don't make sense. During my research, I found out that Lydia Delectorskaya is a Russian woman. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, not green hair and black eyes. The colors are kind of randomly placed. I don't see any meaning behind the colors, except that the two colors on her face, could mix to create her hair color. That's what I see from the colors, but there could be a deeper reason.

Small Biography of Henri Matisse

Small Biography of Henri Matisse

        Henri Matisse was born in the small town of Bohain-en-Vermandois in France on December 31, 1869. When he was just 21, Matisse started painting while combatting an illness, and his carrier as an artist was confirmed. In 1891, he moved to Paris to seek artistic training, to further his abilities. Matisse started to show his work in group exhibitions in the mid-1890s, and his work received some favorable attention. In 1898, he married Amélie Parayre, and they would eventually have three children.
        Matisse had a creative breakthrough in the year 1905. When he visited Saint-Tropez in France, it inspired him to paint bright canvases like Luxe, calme et volupté, and a summer spent in a Mediterranean village in Collioure influenced his work Open Window and Woman with a Hat in 1905. He displayed both paintings in an exhibition in the 1905 Salon d’Automne show in Paris. Soon after he discovered his own style, Matisse found a degree of success. He traveled to Germany, Italy, North Africa and Spain for further inspiration. He bought a studio in a suburb in Paris and signed a contract with the art dealers of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris. The first book about Matisse was published in 1920, marking his importance in the history of modern art. Matisse died on November 3, 1954, at the age of 84, and was buried in Cimiez. He is referred as one of the most innovative/influential artists of the 20th century.

http://www.biography.com/people/henri-matisse-9402564

Portrait of Lydia Delectorskaya

Portrait of Lydia Delectorskaya
Artist: Henri Matisse
Original painting: Portraiture, Painting, Oil on canvas, 64.5x49.5 cm
Origin: France, 1947
Current location: The State Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg Russia

http://www.topofart.com/artists/Matisse/art-reproduction/4796/Portrait-of-Lydia-Delectorskaya.php
http://www.arthermitage.org/Henri-Matisse/Portrait-of-Lydia-Delectorskaya.html
http://www.henri-matisse.net/chronology.html