Woman With a Hat

Femme au Chapeau, though beautiful and highly regarded today as the beginning of Fauvism, was the subject of controversy at the beginning of the 20th century. When Henri Matisse first exhibited Femme au Chapeau, critics were aghast at the bright colors and aggressive brushstrokes on display. They were not impressed. Matisse and other artists who utilized this new style were labeled as “fauves” (wild beasts).

I love the colors of Femme au Chapeau and wanted to take the challenge of interpreting it into LEGO. I thought it best to not do too much inserting of my own ideas/style. So when building this set, I kept areas of Femme au Chapeau not seen from the perspective of the painting’s viewer plain white.

The contrast between the color and blank canvas-side looks really neat on my shelf—hopefully it’ll look neat on yours too!