EPPH - Every Painter Paints Himself Art's Masterpieces Explained Matisse’s The Green Line (1905) Last night I rotated the picture and found what I was looking for: veiled content and meaning. In the block-like forms of Madame's coiffure resides the "face" of her husband with one "eye" only, all in black and dark blue. The large, circular form of a spectacle on the right; the triangular nose next to it; even the black shadow under his "beard". It resembles his face as seen in many self-portraits. The one at right is from five years earlier. L: Detail of Matisse's The Green Line, rotated R: Detail of Matisse's Self-portrait, rotated (1900) Oil on canvas. Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris. In 1905 Henri Matisse exhibited this painting of his wife to a shocked Parisian art world. She has a green stripe down her face. Now a Fauvist icon, The Green Line as it is known has been studied for over a century yet revealed little. Most comment that Matisse was primarily interested in decoration, allowing color to dictate form. That must be wrong because form is the principal carrier of meaning. Self-representation is a must as well. These are essential characteristics without which the reputation of Matisse's art would have plummeted. Yet it has only grown. I have examined The Green Line for 15 years, though, and like others have seen little beyond a portrait. Perhaps, the green stripe is a symbol of his fertility penetrating her mind above. Yet surely, I always thought, there must be more. Matisse, The Green Line or Portrait of Mme. Matisse (1905) Oil on canvas. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen