The MET Assignment

Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954)                            Henri Charles Manguin (French, 1874–1949)
La Coiffure 1907                                                           La Coiffure 1905

Oil on canvas; 45 5/8 x 35 1/16 in. (116 x 89 cm)       Oil on canvas; 45 5/8 x 35 1/16 in. (116 x 89 cm)

This is such an interesting post. Since visiting the MET is currently not an option a virtual visit would be the next best thing. When I first went on the website I used the link where I could “search all of their collections”. Upon first glance I felt like it was too overwhelming. There were a lot of options to choose from to minimize the 348,257 pieces of art. It did take me a little while to figure out how to use all these options to my advantage.

I love that I can go in and see certain pieces that closely resemble each other. With the touch of the mouse I was able to pull up paintings like Henri Matisse’s la Coiffure and Henri Charles Manguin la Coiffure. Both of these paintings were created at about the same time in history. I later realized that la Coiffure in French means the hair salon. What caught my attention were the similarities in these paintings. They both show the hair stylist dressed in a provocative dress working on the hair of a nude female. The nude female is relaxed on some oversized pillows. While they both used the same design there are also some distinct differences. Manguin uses a lot more detail and vibrant colors than Matisse does, and his work seems to be a bit more realistic. It seems the two were very closely related. They were part of les Faurves, and were real good friends. I am pretty certain I would not have been able to make this connection if I had made this a personal visit to the museum.