Luxembourg Gardens

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Matisse created a few landscapes with views of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. This canvas contains three large areas of color. These colors are used to create the sense of a brightly lit day, captured in the dominant cold tones and the fiery red wood. Matisse simplified shapes, omitted details and highlighted the ovals of trees. The artist wanted not to just copy nature, but to express how it made him feel.