Matisse and the Chair

The ancient instinct to collect
becomes a working library.
a laboratory of visual alchemy,
an artist’s palette of reality,
at its centre a Venetian baroque chair.
Its silver gilt, green sea-monsters
and curved seahorses
become the source of coloured
crayon outlines and details
in layered oils:
the portrait of a woman,
curvaceous, adored, wooed with flowers
placed on a seat shaped like a shell,
of a fauteuil rocaille.

Kim M. Russell, 2017

Fauteuille rocaille Henri Matisse oil-on-canvas

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) Fauteuil rocaille, ou fauteuil vénitien, portrait d’un fauteuil, 1946 oil on canvas – image found on Pinterest

My found poem was inspired by an article from The Times about a new Royal Academy exhibition, in response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Tuesday Platform.

Today  Marian welcomes us to the Tuesday Platform, our unprompted free-range day for sharing poems in the Imaginary Garden.

18 thoughts on “Matisse and the Chair”

  2. the portrait of a woman,
    curvaceous, adored, wooed with flowers
    placed on a seat shaped like a shell,

    How very well described the portrait of a woman as imagined by Matisse! Great word craft Kim!

    Hank

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. When it opens, please tell us about it. I love Matisse. I saw the most recent exhibition of Matisse at the Montclair Art Museum, one of the rare days I didn’t visit with my mother. It was spectacular and a great overnight.

    Liked by 1 person

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