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©
Succession H. Matisse / VEGAP
Henri Matisse

The Yellow Flowers

1902
Oil on canvas.
46 x 54.5 cm
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Inv. no.
664
(
1968.9
)
ROOM 38
Level 1
Permanent Collection
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Postpop rooms Rodin room
30 18th and 19th Centuries. Transatlantic Relations 31 19th Century. American Landscape and Environmental Awareness 32 19th Century. American Landscape and Urban Life 33 Recovering the ligth. Restoration of Waterloo Bridge, by André Derain 34 20th Century. Expressionist Landscapes 35 20th Century. Expressionist Portraits 36 20th Century. The Language of the Body 37 20th Century. Urban unrest 38 20th Century. Flowers 39 20th Century. Pioneers of abstraction 40 20th Century. Popular flavor 41 20th Century. The Cubist Tradition I 42 20th Century. The Cubist Tradition II 43 20th Century. Abstract Utopias 44 20th Century. Dada and Surrealism 45 20th Century. Interwar Realisms 46 20th Century. American Abstraction I 48 20th Century. Post-ward American Art 49 20th Century. Post-ward European Figurative Art 50 20th Century. Informalisms 51 20th Century. Homo Ludens 52 20th Century. Pop Art 53 Postpop rooms 54 Postpop rooms 55 Postpop rooms 56 Postpop rooms Rodin Exhibition room

Still-life paintings played a primordial role in Henri Matisse’s beginnings in art. During the first years of the century, in which he executed The Yellow Flowers, the early influence of Impressionism had begun to fade and the painting of the artist who would become the most brilliant colourist was experiencing what might be described as a sombre period. The despondency triggered by the scandalous bankruptcy of his parents-in-law, who had been his financial mainstay during the early years, and the influence of the Nabis dulled his palette and simplified his compositions.

As Hilary Spurling points out, in 1902 Matisse “produced a series of flower pieces [...], small, inexpensive bunches of chrysanthemums or yellow ranunculus or ragged sunflowers, arranged in improvised vases and painted in the drab tones of his youthful palette.” However, the image of this vase of yellow flowers reflected in the mirror conveys a sensation of chromatic energy that foreshadows his Fauve works.

We know that the painter exhibited two still lifes, one landscape and three flower paintings at the 1902 Salon des Indépendants, but it is not possible to ascertain whether any is the work in the collection. We do know, however, that it was shown in the painter’s solo exhibition at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris in 1910 with the title Flowers.

Paloma Alarcó

20th Centurys. XIX - Pintura europea. PostimpresionismoPaintingOilcanvas
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Tours to find it

Vase with Chrysantemums. Crisantemos en un florero, s. f.
Tours
A walk among flowers

The present tour of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection offers a survey of Western art from the end of the Middle Ages to the present with the aim of analysing the numerous functions of floral symbols .

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Arte Americano en la Colección Thyssen (Exhibition catalogue. Spanish)

Arte Americano en la Colección Thyssen (Exhibition catalogue. Spanish)

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German Expressionism from the Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection exhibition catalogue (Spanish with English booklet)

German Expressionism from the Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection exhibition catalogue (Spanish with English booklet)

30.00 € 28.51 €

Spanish & Sisters x Lacroix crochet earrings

Spanish & Sisters x Lacroix crochet earrings

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Alex Katz (exhibition catalog. Spanish with texts in English)

Alex Katz (exhibition catalog. Spanish with texts in English)

32.00 € 30.40 €

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The Yellow Flowers. Las flores amarillas, 1902
The Yellow Flowers
Henri Matisse

©

Succession H. Matisse / VEGAP

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The exploitation rights of the images correspond to the Fundacion Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza, F.S.P. The Fundación authorizes the downloading of high-resolution images from its website for private use, use for educational and research purposes and non-commercial uses.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the images set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from VEGAP (www.vegap.es), or from the corresponding collective management organization in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

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The Yellow Flowers. Las flores amarillas, 1902
The Yellow Flowers
Henri Matisse

©

Succession H. Matisse / VEGAP

Terms of Use

The Photo Library of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza offers sale and rental service of photographic material of all the works on its Permanent Collection.

To request images or permits for commercial use in academic or research publications, that is, catalogues of other institutions, monographs and other specialized publications, you should contact the Museum's Photo Library by email at the e-mail @email.

To request images or permits for other commercial or advertising uses (general publications, merchandising, exhibitions, audio-visual works, web pages, etc.), you should contact the Museum's Commercial Archive by email at the e-mail @email.

The Photo Library and the Museum's Commercial Archive manage the worldwide distribution of images of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza works, as well as their reproduction rights. The applicable rates are calculated based on the nature and proposed use of the images, as well as the availability of the requested image.

Requests for scans or new photographs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Once approved, an additional fee will apply. Re-photographing a work will require a minimum of six weeks to complete.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the photographs set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from  VEGAP (Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos www.vegap.es) or from the corresponding collective management organizations in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

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