Artwork
Girl in Yellow and Blue with Guitar
Girl in Yellow and Blue with Guitar is an oil painting by the Fauvist artist Henri Matisse. It dates from 1939 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1939, this oil painting by Henri Matisse portrays a seated woman holding a guitar. The composition is dominated by vivid yellow and blue hues, with additional accents of red, green and black that define the interior space. The work belongs to the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure is a woman dressed in a yellow jacket and a blue dress featuring a yellow stripe. She sits on a red chair, her curled dark hair turned toward the right, while she cradles a yellow guitar with a black neck. A hanging green plant and a blue wall marked by vertical black lines complete the setting, suggesting a quiet, intimate domestic scene.
Technique & Style
Matisse employs his characteristic Fauvist approach, using flat, saturated colors and simplified forms to convey rhythm rather than realistic detail. The brushwork is smooth and the shapes are reduced to basic planes, allowing color relationships to drive the visual impact.
History & Provenance
Painted toward the end of Matisse’s career, the piece entered the Art Institute of Chicago’s holdings in the mid‑20th century, where it has remained on public display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s focus on early modernist works.
Context
The painting emerges from a period when Matisse was revisiting interior scenes and musical motifs, exploring the interplay of color and space. It aligns with his broader investigations into decorative composition that marked his output in the late 1930s.
Artist & collection
Artist
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (French:; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship.
