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Apples

A work made of oil on canvas.
© 2018 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of oil on canvas.

Date:

1916

Artist:

Henri Matisse
French, 1869–1954

About this artwork

When the 45-year-old Henri Matisse was rejected from military service at the outbreak of World War I, a friend encouraged him to contribute to the war effort the best way he could: by continuing to paint well. This led to a productive period of compositional and material experimentation that Matisse hoped would sustain the tradition of French painting in the face of a cultural and national threat.

Matisse painted this still-life composition twice—in the abstract work seen here and also in a more traditionally representational version. A hidden light source bathes the scene in warm tones, which are offset by a swath of green. Luminous black consumes the background, reflecting Matisse’s challenge to himself to use black as a “color of light, not darkness.”

Status

On View, Gallery 391

Department

Modern Art

Artist

Henri Matisse

Title

Apples

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1916

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed, l.r.: Henri-Matisse

Dimensions

116.5 × 89.5 cm (45 7/8 × 35 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx

Reference Number

1948.563

Copyright

© 2018 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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