Le Bonheur de Vivre

This painting was completed by Henri Matisse in 1905. The title translates to The Joy of Living. There is a yellow undertone that gives the entire piece a sense of warmth and lively energy. Matisse uses oranges and reds heavily on the upper left side and greens on the upper right side. The complementary colors and the underlying yellow reflect the optimistic title and give the painting a pleasant atmosphere. The expressive figures also reflect simple joys of living which include music, dancing, friendship, sex, and even solitude. Matisse uses red to guide the viewer across the painting starting from the nude woman on the left to the figures conversing in the middle and finally to the lonely figure by the goats. Red is a high energy color often representing passion and green is a low energy color often associated with tranquility. Matisse's use of both of these colors to halo the two center figures could be his way of expressing that enjoyment can be found anywhere, from high energy passionate moments to relaxed passing moments.