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Henri Matisses The Ochre Head represents the artists exuberant displ 09 Jan 2025, 12:29
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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 5 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.

ShowHide Answer Question #1
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D
ShowHide Answer Question #2
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A
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C
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Henri Matisses The Ochre Head represents the artists exuberant displ 13 Jan 2025, 12:31
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1. The author uses the word “peculiar” (Highlighted) to mean which of the following?

“Unique,” choice (D), is a secondary meaning of “peculiar.” The author uses it in the context of Matisse learning something that Picasso had done. Of the wrong answers, (B) and (E) at best come from prohibited outside knowledge, whereas (A) and (C) are the opposite of the intended meaning—anything “strange” or “unknown” to Picasso would be something he doesn’t do; “peculiar to Picasso” means something that he’s known for doing.

Answer: D
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Henri Matisses The Ochre Head represents the artists exuberant displ 13 Jan 2025, 12:33
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2. The main idea of the passage is to

The author describes both the work (The Ochre Head) and the inspiration for that work (Still Life with Ancient Head), which matches choice (A).

Choice (B) is a distortion as the passage does not rate the painters.

Choice (C) is a distortion as the passage describes a painting but not how the artist developed his style.

Choice (D) is incorrect as the passage indicates that this was a new direction rather than a representative work.

Choice (E) is out of scope because the passage only discusses two painters, not the art world.

Answer: A
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Henri Matisses The Ochre Head represents the artists exuberant displ 13 Jan 2025, 12:35
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3. According to the passage, all of the following are true of The Ochre Head EXCEPT:

While the author clearly appreciates the work, its place in the hierarchy of all of Matisse’s works is not discussed, so (C) is the correct answer to this Except question. The four wrong answers can all be found in the passage.

For choice (A), the passage states that “colors ... refuse to be constrained by definite lines of form.” Therefore it is true that the artist avoided the constraint of coloring only between the lines.

For choice (B), the end of the passage states that the painting’s composition references a Picasso work.

For choice (D), the passage says the technique is not employed with the “free reign” used in Minotaur; that is, The Ochre Head is more constrained in its use of the technique.

For choice (E), the passage says a vase of flowers and a bench are depicted.

Answer: C