Henri Matisse and the Fauves

Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure (details), 1905, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney 1998.74.7

The composition is a nested set of opening "windows." Walls on each side frame the glass panes, which frame the balcony, which frames the harbor view. In each of these areas, Matisse has used different kinds of brushstrokes:

• long, blending vertical sweeps of the brush for the walls
• a flurry of short, squiggly marks in the balcony
• longer pulls, some vertical, some horizontal, for the sea and sky