Matisse's "Dance" - 6 Week Loan to Amsterdam

From Thursday 1 April for six weeks only, the painting Dance (1909-1910) by Henri Matisse will be included in the art exhibition Matisse to Malevich, ArtDaily reports. Pioneers of modern art from the Hermitage. Dance, which will be seen at the Hermitage Amsterdam only until 9 May, has never previously been displayed in the Netherlands. It is one of the icons of art history and comes from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. It is rarely loaned out. This monumental painting, measuring 260 x 391 centimetres, is an important addition to the exhibition. Its innovative and unconventional design makes this a key work in Matisse’s oeuvre. Throughout his life Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was inspired by the theme of the dance. The composition of Dance is sober. Five nude women move round, stirred by a dance. Their pink bodies stand out against a green surface and a blue sky. Here Matisse opted for highly simplified form and colour. There are no shadows and hardly any suggestion of space. The figures and the background have become colour fields, which are all equally involved in the scene. Dance, so ground-breaking and unconventional in its day, is the most forceful and emphatic expression of French Fauvist painting. For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art