Matisse Anemones Silk Chiffon Scarf

DESIGNER'S NOTES

A delicious floral Fox & Chave silk chiffon scarf with a repeat element derived from an oil painting entitled Still Life with Anemones (1924) by the French fauvist artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Painted during his 'Nice' period (1917–1930), Still Life with Anemones (1924) exemplifies Matisse’s shift from the aggressive dissonance of Fauvism to a 'luxurious, exotic' synthesis of light and pattern.

Unlike his earlier 'wild beast' works, this phase spent in the city in southern France from 1917 until 1930, is uniquely interesting for its controversial reception; initially criticised as a 'step backward' into bourgeois hedonism, these works were structurally radical, flattening three-dimensional space into decorative planes of pure colour.

By treating flowers, table and elements of the room within the scene with equal visual weight, Matisse was already experimenting with the isolation of colour that would define his final phase showing a rigid separation of colour fields that directly anticipates his later découpage phase, or what he called 'drawing with scissors', where he would physically cut directly into colour to resolve the tension between line and paint.

COLOURS

STYLING

There are many ways to style a Fox & Chave chiffon silk scarf including the basic drape, belted drape and reverse drape. Our chiffon silk scarfs look really good worn in the bandit knot or faux infinity style too. More scarf styling ideas are available in this wonderful How to Tie a Scarf book.