# @sfmoma on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DaLSL3RlJys
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/67350048-sfmoma-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/818af9deba.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-29T16:21:30.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** SFMOMA (@sfmoma) — https://gondola.cc/sfmoma

## Caption

What did it mean to sit for a Henri Matisse portrait? 💭🎨 

Well, you’d have to welcome controversy. When “The Girl with Green Eyes” first debuted in 1910, people were taken aback. Matisse’s radical color and signature Fauvist style was already pushing boundaries, and this painting was no exception. 

One of the elements viewers found jarring was the way Matisse gave the young woman and her background equal prominence within the composition. Once again deviating from naturalism, Matisse synthesized the figure’s clothing and the objects behind her into one vibrant, flattened plane. He commanded that viewers see the painting through his subjective experience, rather than an exact mirror of reality. 

While the identity of the sitter in “The Girl with Green Eyes” is unknown, her gaze forever remains a testament to Matisse’s bold exploration of form and expression. 

Step into “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” and see his controversy in a new light. Tickets at the link in bio 🎟️

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Henri Matisse, “La fille aux yeux verts” (The Girl with Green Eyes), 1908; Collection SFMOMA, bequest of Harriet Lane Levy, 1950; © Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Ben Blackwell

“Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” (installation view, SFMOMA); photo: Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography
#Matisse #ModernArt #SFMOMA

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## Tags

modernart, matisse, sfmoma

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