Serendipity - Matisse And Dharma Blue

Photo by Denise Daughtry


After an absence of several years, my husband and I revisited historic Seville Square in Pensacola. As we were driving downtown to the square - for once, we did not get lost - I noticed when we passed the Pensacola Museum of Art, that a Matisse exhibit titled "Henri Matisse, a Celebration of French Poets & Poetry" was in place. I told Grandpère that I wanted to go there after we left the square. I love Matisse and would not miss an opportunity to see his work.

As we walked around the square, we saw the museums, Old Christ Church, pictured above to the left, and the old homes we had already toured in our previous visit. As we headed toward the location of a restaurant where we had enjoyed an excellent meal in the past, we were pleased to see that it was still there, still with the same name, Dharma Blue. The restaurant is in an old restored house, painted blue, of course. The walls are decorated with local art, many of them portraits of famous musicians, such as Chuck Berry, Louie Armstrong, Ray Charles, and others. Once again, we had a delicious lunch and for desert, a key lime pie to die for.

After walking around a little more, we headed for the Pensacola Museum of Art. The Matisse exhibit was the only one open, but that was fine, because that was what I wanted to see.


Matisse, Henri. Mallarme, Stephane.
Poesies

As I entered the gallery, I thought "Wow! Oh, wow! This is stunning!" I knew that I was going to love my time there. There were two rooms lined with etchings and lithographs by Matisse. My reaction to art that I love is a stirring inside, a gut reaction, I suppose you could call it. It's either there or it's not. It was there.

The description of the exhibit from the museum website says:

This exciting exhibit pairs the etchings and lithographs of world renowned artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) with the artist’s own translation of the works of French Renaissance poet Pierre de Ronsard (1542-1585) and Modern poet Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898). This combination of Matisse’s artistic as well as literary vision is said to truly exemplify the charm of French poetry and provide true insight into the creative world of Matisse....

Matisse's etchings and lithographs without the brilliant colors of the paintings, which I was accustomed to seeing, forced me to look at his forms, the human figures and animals, in a way that I had not previously viewed them. The colors in Matisse's paintings are so vivid and arresting, that I had focused on the colors rather than the forms. I found the simple lines of the etchings and lithographs to be as amazing and playful as the paintings which I love so much. Matisse's art seems to be filled with wonder and delight in his own work.

As I wondered through the exhibit, I saw what Matisse could do with just a few lines. I found a headless nude female drawn with eight lines. I moved on to find another headless nude drawn with four lines! Yes, four lines. Further on was a wonderful portrait of Edgar Allen Poe, whose poetry Matisse translated into French.

Matisse says of his drawings that he was directed by a higher power. "I was guided...I do not lead."

There's much to be said for small museums. Museums like the Metropolitan Museum or the Louvre can be overwhelming. In Pensacola, I made my way leisurely through the entire exhibit. I was alone the whole time, except when Grandpère wondered in from visiting the history museum. How can such a gem of an exhibit go unnoticed and unattended?

Before I wrote my post, I deliberately did not read the review of the exhibit in the Pensacola News Journal, because I wanted to give my own impressions. I see that the reviewer uses "playful" in his description, and he also takes note of Matisse's "economy of line".