Artwork Page for The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay

Details / Information for The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay

The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay

1917

Henri Matisse

(French, 1869–1954)
Culture
France, 20th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 58 x 75 x 7 cm (22 13/16 x 29 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 38.2 x 55.2 cm (15 1/16 x 21 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Lucia McCurdy McBride in memory of John Harris McBride II 1972.225
Copyright
© Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
223 20th Century Avant-Garde
Print

Description

Henri Matisse painted this unusual view of a road and the surrounding rural landscape in summer of 1917 while being chauffeured by his son Pierre toward an airport on the outskirts of Paris. Seized by the novel idea of depicting the road from inside the car, Matisse asked his son to pull over so he could begin painting. Although forced to keep the windows shut, and despite passing traffic rocking the old Renault back and forth, Matisse managed to create a novel view of life in the modern automobile age.
A horizontally oriented oil painting with muted colors depicts a landscape framed by a car interior. In the foreground, a brown steering wheel with silver spokes sits to the right of a gray dashboard. Through the windshield, a gray road recedes between rows of green trees and yellow fields under a pale sky. To the left, a side window frames the terrain. Visible brushstrokes define the forms, and a signature is in the top right.

The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay

1917

Henri Matisse

(French, 1869–1954)
France, 20th century

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