L'Atelier Rouge

L'Atelier Rouge, was the original French title of this painting by Henri Matisse. It was produced in 1911 and translated into English as The Red Studio. The artist would feature his studios several times within his work.

This contemporary work features a dominant tone of red which floods the artwork. Opposition to this is provided by items found within the room, all of which are loosely spread right across the composition. Matisse purposely rejects standard uses of perspective and delivers most objects as flat elements which was common within the early to mid 20th century. Artists at this time were looking for alternatives to the standard techniques which had been taught for centuries and so would deliberately work against even their own art education. In terms of playing with perspective, it was the Cubists who proved most successful in this regard, allowing an artist to deliver different angles of the same object across their paintings, with the best examples of this coming from Gris and Braque.

Matisse uses yellow lines in order to draw out the approximate layout within his studio. This colour does not take your attention too much when placed against the bright, dominant red which is used throughout, for both the floor and walls. Several paintings hang on the wall and their alternative colours mean you will probably notice them first. We then see a glass, plate and other items which indicate a table surface to the left hand side. Once we are aware of it, we can then identify the edges of the table itself, though it is delivered in a subtle manner. To the right hand side we then can spot a wooden chair. Several sculptures are included too, placed atop some wooden stands. There is more furniture elsewhere in the piece, though the angles used by Matisse make the overall scene slightly confusing at first. L'Atelier Rouge has recently been voted amongst the 20 most influential artworks within modern art.

Where to find L'Atelier Rouge

This painting can be found within the collection of MoMA, which is an important art institution based in New York, USA. Its connection to Henri Matisse makes it one of the most important items within their collection, though they also possess some other artworks from his career including Dance I, The Blue Window and View of Notre Dame as well as a number of sculptures and drawings too. The gallery focuses most on modern art, meaning that the majority of their collection comes from the 20th century, with additionally some Post-Impressionists from the late 19th century featured here too. They have pretty much all of the key artists from American and European art of those periods covered here, making it one of the most popular art attractions in the entire world.

Famous Paintings at MoMA

MoMA continues to expand its collection and has also opened up another gallery elsewhere in the US so that as many of its artworks can be on display as possible. We have included below some of the real highlights to be found within the New York location, with most of them probably being familiar with you already. It is easy to see when browsing this short list as to why the venue is just so popular, and has been for many years. As American art has started to dominate for the first time, so have the nation's galleries started to compete strongly against the major European art galleries and museums, such as those found in London, Paris, Florence and Rome. They also put on exhibitions from time to time to attract regular visitors to fresh displays every few months.

Large Image of L'Atelier Rouge