The Open Window

The Open Window is a painting by Henri Matisse, completed in 1905 in Collioure, a coastal town on the south of France. It shows the view from the window of the artist's apartment, in a hotel overlooking the harbour, where sailboats are visible on the water. Rather than a landscape unfolding before the viewer, Matisse presents a scene framed by the window, so that the act of looking outward becomes the central subject of the picture.

The work belongs to Fauvism, the style for which Matisse became famous and of which he was a leader, roughly between 1900 and 1909. During these years colour takes precedence over faithful reproduction of reality, and the scene is organised through colour contrasts and simplified forms. We should not overstate what is known about his specific intentions, but the composition clearly reflects the interest in light and colour that defined the movement.

The painting was shown at the Salon d'Automne in Paris the same year it was made. Much later, in 1998, the estate of Mrs. John Hay Whitney bequeathed it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, where it is now held.

The open window was not an isolated subject. Matisse returned to the motif repeatedly in Paris, during his years in Nice and Étretat, and again in his final years, particularly in the late 1940s. He is said to have loved painting open windows throughout his career, which makes this work a useful entry point into one of his most persistent concerns: the relationship between the interior of the studio and the light outside.

Painter

Henri Matisse

Date

1905

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

55 × 46 cm

Museum

Galería Nacional de Arte, Washington, D.C.

Movement

Fauvism

Depicts

Collioure, window, port

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