The Music Lesson
1917
- Dimensions
- 245.1 x 210.8 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Collection
- The Barnes Foundation
A French visual artist of the early 20th century, he detached color from the imi…
✦ The setting of this painting
This scene captures the Matisse family gathered together for the last time in 1917, during the First World War. It portrays a serene musical interlude as the younger son, Pierre, plays the piano while the elder son, Jean, daughter, Marguerite, and wife, Amélie, look on.
✦ Historical context
Painted in 1917 during the First World War. As the world was engulfed in conflict, the eldest son, Jean, was soon to depart for the front line. Of the two world wars Matisse lived through, this piece is set against the poignant reality of impending family separation during the Great War.
There is a boy at the piano.
It is his second son, Pierre.
Surrounding him, his family is depicted.
His daughter, Marguerite.
His wife, Amélie.
And his eldest son, Jean, watching over his younger brother.
This is a family portrait painted by Henri Matisse.
A colossal canvas, over two meters tall and two meters wide.
What remains on it is a quiet moment of music.
The year is 1917.
It is the midst of World War I.
While the world was engulfed in war,
this room alone seems to be filled with a serene atmosphere.
However, this was no ordinary daily scene.
It was the last time the Matisse family would gather together.
His eldest son, Jean, was about to depart for the front shortly after this, and this might have been the last time the entire family could spend together.
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