Learning Specialist, Emma Waldman: Let's take a look at the painting as a whole. What kind of colors are you seeing? What space do you think it is?
Curator, Ann Temkin: The Red Studio is actually a picture of Matisse's real studio, and this studio was about a 15-minute train ride from the center of Paris. And it was the first studio that Matisse had built purely for himself.
Emma Waldman: This painting wasn’t always red.
Ann Temkin: The life of this painting began not as The Red Studio. The floor was pink, the walls were blue, and all the furniture was an ochre yellow.
Emma Waldman: If we move our eyes towards the bottom right-hand corner of the painting, the objects that are outlined are some stools, a table, a chair. One of the chairs is colored in what looks like this light yellow ochre. I see some of the hints of pink, specifically on the chair in the lower right-hand corner, on the chair legs.
Ann Temkin: After living with that a little bit, Matisse made the very bold decision that he was going to take one color, Venetian red, and coat the whole surface of the painting with it, except his works of art. So that the paintings and sculptures by Matisse, as well as a few of the objects in the studio—little dishes and vases—those would all pop out from the red.
Emma Waldman: The Red Studio is more than just a painting of Matisse's studio.
Ann Temkin: Matisse painted very few self-portraits, but he made many paintings of his studios. In a way, his studio was his world, and for so many artists, their studio is their world. So when Matisse is making paintings of his works of art, it's his self-portrait.
Emma Waldman: What is a place or a room that is very important to you? Think of that place, and then think about what is one color you would use to paint that place?