The exotic and erotic in Matisse’s eastern revelation

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Matisse and the Alhambra

Francisco Jarauta et al.

Here is an irresistible combination of subjects, Matisse’s classic paintings of decorative figure subjects and the great and varied  historical spread of Islamic art. In the winter of 1910/11, Matisse,  seeking new artistic stimulation, visited Seville, Cordova and, notably, Granada, leaving his signature in the visitors’ book for the Alhambra. Hence an exhibition was held at the Alhambra from 15 October 2010 to 28 February 2011.

Matisse had selected his destination with good purpose; he had already been impressed by exhibitions of Islamic art that he had seen in Munich and Paris. He must have appreciated the solutions it seemed to offer to the problems of flatness and abstraction that concerned him in his own struggles with the language of painting. The sense that the art of the East could provide a restorative cure to the jaded and exhausted traditions of European art and design had been firmly established during the nineteenth century, through publications such as Owen Jones’ vast album of examples of decorative art, A Grammar of Ornament (1856). 

On his way down through Spain, Matisse, a knowledgeable collector of textiles, purchased an antique tapestry from the Alpujarras region of Andalusia, which was to feature in a number of his subsequent paintings. At first glance, his work suggests primarily the process of simplification of the elements of painting, but this impression can be misleading if it is understood as a facile ‘stripping away’. In fact, the ultimate reconciliation of the competing energies of colour, line and structure, which he manages to bring into harmony, was very hard won and months would often be spent on individual pictures.

At the heart of the book are the full-page reproductions of paintings and lithographs reflecting his adaptation of both the decorative language and the motifs of Islamic art.  One is reminded of Persian and Indian miniatures.  The selection includes three works he made while staying in Seville, including two still-life subjects. These are now in the Hermitage collection, Saint Petersburg, reflecting the fact that his principal patrons at the time came from pre-revolutionary Russia. 

Matisse had recently visited Russia, where again he had been much affected by the Oriental forms of Byzantine art.  But perhaps the most typical subject of these paintings is that of the Odalisque – a reclining female figure, usually semi-nude but draped in garments of  Arabian type. This subject no doubt still evoked the aura of the exotic lassitude and erotic availability of the harem. In one of the book’s essays, Isabelle Monod-Fontaine suggests that, in addition to the famous tile decoration of the Alhambra, the architectural spaces of the intimate chambers of the Bathhouse within the palace also contribute to the atmosphere of his Odalisque paintings. 

The exhibition also included the work of the Basque painter, Francisco Iturrino, who guided Matisse on this visit and who shared his studio – and paint tubes – with him. He is revealed as an appealing and accomplished fellow traveller on the same painting mission.

The second section of the book assembles a diverse selection of decorative art: a reminder of the major exhibition of Islamic Art held in Munich in 1910 that made such an impression on Matisse.  Many of the exhibits are from the collection of the Alhambra and include miniatures, plates and ceramic tiles but particularly feature a range of textiles. These culminate in a Manila shawl and a Mooucharabieh:  a latticed window screen in the form of a cotton panel onto which pierced fabric elements  have been embroidered. These items were owned by Matisse and used in a number of his Odalisque paintings. The textiles bountifully display the exquisite workmanship and aesthetic sophistication that provided him with a constant resource for the renewal of his own visual language. It is significant that the latest of  Matisse’s works in the exhibition was itself a textile.  A multiple edition of the work Oceania: The Sky (1946–9) was commissioned by the British textile manufacturer, Zita Ascher, as a stencil and silkscreen print based on the original paper cut-out designs of bird, sea snake and cloud motifs, which reveal a close affinity with traditional Islamic decorative forms. 

This book’s appeal is available to all who savour the visual pleasures of both Matisse’s work and Islamic art, and the research evident in the several essays, exploring both the painting and the historical context of Europe’s romanticized acquaintance with the Orient, also recommends it to the academic reader. The book provides a rich endorsement to the claim made by the artist himself in 1947: ‘The revelation came to me from the Orient’.

This book is published by Tf Editores, distributed by Antique Collectors’ Club, 2010. 256 pp., 215 colour illus. ISBN  9788492441204