Guess Who is Coming to Supper

#76014     72 X 50″      ac

• Matisse: “Odalisque with Tambourine”, 1926. Collection William S. Paley
• Alexina Matisse: photo of Madame Matisse and her husband at the table, Nice. c.a. 1929.

Chen created this painting, pure and simple, as a feast-for-the-eye homage to Henri Matisse. The uncomplicated icons all relate to Matisse. The juxtaposition of psychological incongruencies of the related symbols, however, also reveals Chen’s sly wit.Matisse’s works of the 1920’s are notable for a swift touch of poetic ecstasy. The nude in the Chen has an easy voluptuousness – full bodied, a complete and sufficient woman. There is no doubt that brought to supper – as she has been by Chen – she will dominate the table, not by being churlish or pushy, but because there is so much to recommend her. The photo of Matisse and his wife at the supper table would be unbearably somber in such company, except that Chen has rendered them and the table in a vibrant reddish gold. Matisse’s abstraction expression suggests he is conjuring the painting and perhaps wishing it would take life and converse. The dour wife seems to be of a different world, a friend and sober companion perhaps, but no match for Matisse’s art. This must be the domestic situation not only among artists but also in uncounted millions of households where one partner has exceptional talent or preoccupation. Matisse may be surprised when Odalisque climbs off her chair to sup with them; his wife will have apoplexy.

Chen has transformed the predominantly yellow and green hues of the original Matisse Odalisque and Tambourine to a much hotter palette of pink, red, and yellow. The color of the wallpaper on the left has been made more brilliant, as have the colorblocks added across the top. This revision of colors made in conjunction with the luminescent gilding of the photoicon bonds Chen’s painting together as a new entity, a painting of considerable warmth, respect, and beauty.

– Lawrance Jeppson