Ways Of Seeing

The image of ‘window' frequently appears in many paintings at home and abroad,which has left a deep impression on us,either as part of the picture or as the main or even as independent images of the picture.In the history of western art,it tends to represent an objective and rational way of natural observation,and it also constructs an artificial order of viewing.At the same time,‘window' is also an unfailing theme in art history.Many outstanding painting masters are keen on reflecting the image of "window" in their works to form the pictorial effectiveness of "painting in painting".With the main painting element of ‘window',Matisse created a large number of works in his life.The theme of "window" almost runs through his whole life as an artist,which plays a decisive role in Matisse's painting.Why Matisse created a large number of works on the motif of ‘window'? How to understand its development in the different periods of Matisse's painting?What's the characteristic of the ‘Window' in visual space?How to read these ‘windows' ?These questions become the academic reason of this topic.Based on Minglu Gao's theory of ‘Self-contained box',‘Grid' and ‘Frame',Greenberg's graphic analysis and Rosalind Krause's theory of ‘Grid',and combined with the ‘Windows' in the history of western art,this paper analyzes the ‘Windows' in different periods of Matisse's paintings through the methods of vertical and horizontal analysis.Secondly,based on Roger Fry's ‘Dual Nature of Painting" and Arnheim's theory of visual perception,this paper explains how Matisse specifically expresses the specificity of ‘Window Site' and the image space of ‘window' and how the painter creates an imaginary painting space in the form of plane.In addition,this paper will analyze the functions and significance of ‘window frames',and use the method of image analysis to trace the phenomenon of ‘transcending' window frames back to related works in the middle ages and Renaissance.Finally,combined with the historical background of Matisse,this paper analyzes the reasons why the paintercreated a large number of works with "window" as the motif from the perspectives of visual metaphor and spatial metaphor.