Some intriguing commentary from Clement Greenberg in the 1950s Pocket Library of Art series' Matisse volume -- the painting is Matisse's 1919 White Plumes and the model was Antoinette, one of Matisse's favorites at that time:
The good looks of the girl, the bizarre splendor of her hat, and the rich simplicity of design and color are at first sight almost cloying. Yet, even though Matisse has turned out his share of superficial work, this is not part of it...Antoinette's sex appeal is so solemn as to contradict itself, what with the fixed stare of her eyes and the rigid set of her features that make her more effigy than woman. What is really seductive are the appurtenances, the Indian red background, the pearly whites and grays in the features--that is, the paint, the disinterested paint.
Matisse was still alive when this particular small pocket book series was published (he died the following year in 1954) and if he ever read Greenberg's critique, it would be interesting to know what he thought of it.
Pictured: White Plumes -- Henri Matisse, 1919 (Minneapolis Institute of Art)
