Monday, April 4, 2011

Matisse - Tom Walgers

French artist Henri Matisse (1869 -1954) was commissioned to create the costumes for the Russian Ballet's version of 'The Nightingale' by Igor Stravinksky. A departure from art, costume design provides an interesting link between Matisse's early fig ratite fine art in a more traditional sense and the collage and abstraction that occupied him in his later years. Famed for his bold and ingenious use of colour, simplicity of composition, and 'flat' aesthetic it would seem a natural movement between art and design, and interestingly in much of Matisse's figurative work there is a preoccupation with design in particular attention to textiles, patterns, furniture and clothing.



The costumes are abstract consisting of a heavy textile robe and head-dress with geometric patterns said to represent the deer native to the play. The pattern features the interest Matisse had in Asian minimalism and printmaking.


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