Henri Matisse’s The Ochre Head represents the artist’s exuberant

Henri Matisse’s The Ochre Head represents the artist’s exuberant display of his new mastery of a technique once peculiar to Picasso. Matisse has learned to artfully separate color and drawing. The painting depicts a head and shoulders, a bouquet of red flowers in a dark blue vase sitting upon a bench, a framed drawing of a woman’s head, and an unframed painting or drawing, also of a woman. But what is most striking about the painting is the way Matisse has begun to allow his colors and his forms to play freely, even while they are coordinated. The ochre of the head runs out past the form. Bits of blue from the bench appear in the man’s neckline or along his shoulder. The colors of the various frames and surfaces of the drawing on the wall overlap and refuse to be constrained by definite lines of form. Although this technique is not given the kind of free reign Picasso allows it in his Cubist period or in works such as Minotaur, it is still a stunning development for Matisse. And he seems aware of this fact. The painting’s composition references Picasso’s Still Life with Ancient Head from 1925, signaling Matisse’s awareness that he is borrowing from his younger colleague.

1. The author uses the word “peculiar” (Highlighted) to mean which of the following?

(A) strange
(B) abstract
(C) unknown
(D) unique
(E) appealing


2. The main idea of the passage is to

(A) describe an artistic work and its inspiration
(B) describe how Matisse surpassed Picasso
(C) describe how Matisse developed his style
(D) describe a representative example of Matisse’s work
(E) describe the influence of Picasso on the art world


3. According to the passage, all of the following are true of The Ochre Head EXCEPT:

(A) The artist avoided the constraint of coloring only between the lines.
(B) Its arrangement is similar to that of a piece by Picasso.
(C) It is considered among the best of Matisse’s work.
(D) Its use of technique is more constrained than that of Minotaur.
(E) It depicts household objects.