The Painter’s Family by Matisse Canvas Print

Somewhere between Matisse and Fauvist colour, this family portrait refuses to behave. Deep red, navy and cream all push forward at once, and the whole wall gains a bit of nerve. A quiet living room stops feeling careful. Hang it above a sofa, a sideboard or on a dining wall where people sit long enough to notice the chess game in the middle. It gets on well with deep red or navy velvet, aged leather, patterned wool rugs and dark stained wood. Keep the wall behind it plain. Don’t crowd it with other busy patterned pictures, and skip fussy little frames nearby this one wants space either side to read as one confident block of colour. On canvas the brushwork keeps its painted texture.