ART APPRECIATION
Harmony in red (The red room), 1908, is considered by some art historians to be Matisse’s masterpiece. Matisse was greatly influenced by the Post-Impressionists, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, and Van Gogh was an ardent admirer of Japanese art and motifs. He developed his style using areas of flat, brilliant and often unnatural colour and invariably outlined his forms in a manner similar to Van Gogh. This fauvist painting, like Impressionists Claude Monet, has no central focal point. The painting initially was ordered as ‘Harmony in Blue,’ but Matisse was dissatisfied with the result, so he painted it over with his preferred red.
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Henry Matisse (1869-1954) is one of the best-known artists of the twentieth century. Born in France, Matisse studied law in Paris and worked as a court administrator. When he was recovering from appendicitis, his mother brought him some art supplies. He found his true calling and decided to study art, much to his father’s disappointment. He studied art in Paris, initially painting landscapes and still-lifes in the traditional style of the day. Later, he was introduced to the work of the Postimpressionists, and his style changed completely. Influenced by the Postimpressionists and Japanese art, Matisse made color a crucial element in his paintings. Matisse wanted to convey joy and comfort in his work, even though he lived through two World Wars and uncertain times.
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MUSIC APPRECIATION
| “Morning Mood” from Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46 (1875) |
This piece was written by Grieg for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. The song’s melody features the pentatonic scale which is a music scale with five notes per octave. (penta = five!)
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Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was a composer who was a founder of the Norwegian nationalist school of music. Rooted in the national folk tradition of Norway, Grieg’s music is noted for a refined lyrical sense. Between 1867 and 1901 he wrote ten collections of Lyric Pieces (Lyriske Stykker) for piano. His spirited rhythms often have a folk song association. His harmonies, developed from the late Romantic style, were considered novel. 4
- Lange, Krista, and Leigh Lowe. First Grade Enrichment: Classical Core Curriculum. Teacher Guide. Memoria Press, 2017. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Music Appreciation I. I, Memoria Press.
↩︎ - “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 22 July 2025, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart.
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Providence School of Tifton 