This artwork is protected by copyright. We cannot display images of works by artists who passed away after 1954.
See the original at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco
by Henri Matisse, 1905
Henri Matisse ignited passionate controversy when he debuted this portrait at the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris. The painting depicts his wife Amélie, rendered in patches of wild colorful brushstrokes that purposefully departed from observed reality.
Critics were outraged. Louis Vauxcelles famously called Matisse and his colleagues "les fauves" (wild beasts), inadvertently naming the Fauvism movement. Gertrude and Leo Stein purchased the controversial work for 500 francs, boosting Matisse's morale after the harsh criticism.
The painting eventually made its way to San Francisco through Michael and Sarah Stein in 1935. SFMOMA received it as a bequest in 1991. By terms of the gift, the painting cannot travel, making SFMOMA the only place to see this foundational work of modern art.
Other masterpieces from the Post-Impressionism movement

Vincent van Gogh, 1888
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Vincent van Gogh, 1888
National Gallery, London

Vincent van Gogh, 1889
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Vincent van Gogh, 1889
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Vincent van Gogh, 1889
Getty Center, Los Angeles

Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Vincent van Gogh, 1888
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Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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