Henri Matisse’s painting, The Girl with Green Eyes, is an expressionist portrait created in 1908 using oil on canvas. It measures 66 x 50.8 cm and depicts a girl with piercing green eyes and vivid colors of dress and coiffure, with her face bisected by a slash of green color.
Matisse was known for his use of bright color and original draughtsmanship, which made him a leader in the emerging art group known as the Fauves. The Girl with Green Eyes is an excellent representation of the Fauvism movement, showcasing bold colors used alone to describe the image.
The painting was bequeathed to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1950 by Harriet Lane Levy but was not represented at Matisse’s retrospective exhibit in 1992. Despite this fact, it remains an important work within Matisse’s oeuvre because it highlights his mastery of color usage and expressionistic style.
