A thought on my newest acquaintance

I need to say something else about this man I’ve just met earlier today. He is quite impressive in his stature, and has those sharp corners around the joints of his body which make him look like a, how should I put it – like an unfinished sculpture. It’s like his figure is capable of cutting, harming one’s skin through mere touch. Quite singular indeed, quite singular. The sharpness is replicated in his tone, in his gait, in his way of being. When he approached me he did it so directly, I was a little worried. Well, I have my own reasons to be a little jumpy these days and, I have to admit it, the sight of him made me suspicious in the beginning. Somehow, I thought harm could come from him. Then I don’t know if this is a facial peculiarity, but whatever was on his face looked more like a grin than a smile. Who would not feel threatened by such an individual approaching at impatient speed? That’s what made me compare him to a wolf in my previous post.

In any case, he turned out to be more malleable than the sharpness of his being seemed to indicate in the first place. I believe we can have a decent discussion, the two of us, and that’s taking the edge off my initial fear (if that’s the right word to define the feeling I had when I first saw him). His name is Donald Danglars. And yes, he has a blog. He’s written the address for me on a piece of paper: www.donand-danglars.blogspot.co.nz. I will take a look at it shortly.

Plans for dinner

Here, in Nice, things get really, really interesting. Being in the proximity of Matisse gives me the frissons I’m sure many are familiar with; especially those who have visited the place.

But that’s not all. A little thing that happened to me needs to be mentioned here, at least as an element of colour. I was in the Matisse Museum the other day, engrossed in the contemplation of two particular pieces which resonated solidly with my latest assignment. They’re not the object of this post, so I’m not going to talk about them. What is, though, significant is this man I met in the museum. As I was standing in the middle of the gallery, I could feel it like something solid, something abrasive against the back of my head. When I turned around it wasn’t even hard to notice him. His eyes were so intently glued on me there was no doubt he’d been staring at me for a very long time. Well, it turned out he knew me. I sometimes get this buzz from people who stop me on the street to tell me they’ve attended my lectures, read my articles, browsed my blog. Well, what can I say? He seemed to be one of those. But then he started talking about Matisse and everything changed. The man is nuts about the artist. He never called him by his name, but always used the sobriquet ‘the Master.’ He knew so much about Matisse, I ended up liking him. So I accepted his invitation to have dinner together. If nothing else, at least I can capture some of this craze from him. It’s something I need, considering the assignment I’m working on, in which Matisse is the central point. I think he was more curious than I would normally allow strangers to have in my proximity and in relation to my person. I saw him throwing glances at the printed photo I had in my hand, and that was not a thing I would normally take lightly. The print was a professional secret, but he stared at it like a hungry wolf eyeing the lamb that’s going to make its next meal. Speaking of which, I’m now ready to see what comes out of this dinner. Donald, my dear, here I come.

A room with a view to Tahiti

Window to Tahiti is a painting executed by Matisse sometime between 1935 and 1936. That’s five or six years after his short visit to Tahiti. This painting is quite unique, in the sense of building a South Seas feeling not only from the setting or the subject matter, but through the accentuated presence of outlines. Without them, without these thick, bold, loud contours, one would imagine any other place on earth. The balustrade looks European. The ship does it too. The trees could be any trees, the island in the distance could be any island.

Source: Feasting with Matisse

But then, after exploring the calm of the setting and the insistence of these outlines, one discovers the border of white Pacific flowers. And that brings attention to something more local, more likely to appear as a Tahitian landscape. Funny, the way Matisse so often employed funny: you need to take your eyes off his central scene for a second to know exactly where you are. And so, the identity of the place is decentralized. It doesn’t happen in the middle, where most viewers would expect the stronghold of the message to feature prominently, but on the edges of the painting itself. It is through this element of decoration that Matisse, as almost always, blows a different life into the subject matter and changes the piece to the point of reconfiguration.

Then there are the outlines, like I said. They remind me of Gauguin.

Insofar as the shapes are concerned, once again, the curve predominates. It’s in the clouds, in the tree crowns, in the folds of the curtain, which looks as diaphanous as a cloud of steam out of a coffee pot. All this spells out lavishness, luxuriance, abundance, languorous pleasure mixed with the smoothness of an unspoken desire.

At peace in Nice

My rant of almost two weeks ago has faded away, to a certain degree. I am no longer violently questioning myself. It feels like I know what’s going on now. At least I’ve got a purpose. I am on an assignment that opens up a new field of professional possibilities and personal promises. At the core of it: Matisse. Matisse, whose work I have admired for a long time, is giving me the chance to reflect on art again, and to put my experience to the test once more. And so I’ve moved to Nice for a while. Southern France, with its gentle climate and inviting society, has given me this peace of mind that I’d needed.

Matisse in Cimiez, Nice
Source: Un an à Nice

Away from the hustle and bustle of London, the urban mastodon, Nice is the kind of place that invites reflection, quietness, peace. My good friend Zac is with me, and although he’s over-excited about some Salsa festival going on in the area, I have enough time to concentrate on my work. I’ve seen Antibes today, where Zac and I drove to have lunch, and I can say I’m enthralled. I would spend my whole life here and I wouldn’t regret a single moment spent idling about, in contemplation.

Nice at night
Source: Wikipedia

The place seems to have the same effect on Zac, who’s having problems of his own, and who’s finding Nice ideal for debriefing. As mentioned, there’s this Salsa festival that’s keeping him pumped up, and that’s great. A lot of pretty girls to keep his mind occupied and the smile on his face fresh.

Musée Matisse in Cimiez
source: Wikipedia

The Musée Matisse here is what I’m looking for, since what I need right now is exposure to the art of the so-called “master of colour.” I need to get myself acquainted with subtler aspects of Matisse’s art, and a museum entirely dedicated to his work is just the thing. Not to mention the setting: Nice, which yes, is likely to clean up a lot of mess going on in my head at this stage. There was, of course, the possibility of going to Le Cateau-Cambrésis, but there was another thing that brought me here: the need to capture the warmth of the Mediterranean. My assignment requires this. In order to understand my task, I need to see the Mediterranean the way Matisse would have seen it in the twentieth century.