Name: Plum Raison 2082-20, Raisin torte 2083-10
Brand: Benjamin Moore
I discovered Matisse’s The Red Studio at the Museum of Modern Art last summer, and found it to be completely captivating. It also got my wheels spinning: why not paint your own studio from toe top to crown in plum red?...
I vowed long ago to never again paint a room plain white, save a closet. But as an artist myself, I’ve always thought it makes sense to keep studio areas fairly neutral. This painting shocked me back to my senses—a color like this on the walls would stimulate the senses and tickle your imagination daily. It makes me want to play.
The Victorians thought that the idea color for a sitting room or a portrait gallery was deep red. Matisse painted this in 1911, not long after the Victorian age, and offers us his own Fauvist version of a portrait gallery. I’d photoshop some suggested uses for the modern home, but I find this painting to be so vivifying that I’ll let you, dear reader, come up with your own examples.
Possible color matches: Plum Raison 2082-20, Raisin torte 2083-10. Try staining your floor Jacobean or Bombay Mahogany.
- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Why not?
Maybe, because it's dark?
Don't you find you need a lot of light to work with colour, in any artistic medium?
view Alana in Canada's profile
Also the quality of light is different in different parts of the world. So the same red could look and feel very different depending on whether it's in Matisse's France versus New York city.
view deepa's profile
I sew, so this wouldn't work for my space. I'm not sure it would work for most crafters because you need a lot of light to work in detail. So, I can see why you might have it to view art, but not to make it.
view Lisa from VA/lsaspacey's profile
I once had a bedroom/study that was red. It was cranapple. That was the name, that was the color. I think it was behr.
I loved it as the color of my office, where I spent a lot of time writing. It's a very stimulating color. It was a horror to sleep in, though. And it tinted everything in the room red.
Come to think of it, I also used to paint in that room, so I suppose it was also my studio. I painted a lot of red paintings at that time.
So I think red is great for a writing study or a studio if you are not interested in working with color-- or you're interested in working with having a red period, ala Picasso's blue period, but I think it's too strong for a full use studio.
view rosy's profile
Is there any proof that Matisse did actually have a red studio? I think Deepa is right about the light.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile