Matisse's Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal

Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat (detail), 1905, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

In 1905, Henri Matisse sent shockwaves through the art world with Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat), a portrait of his wife, Amélie, painted in bold color and loose brushstrokes that defied convention. This exhibition brings the original stakes into focus and explores the enduring impact of one of Matisse’s most iconic works. The exhibition restages Femme au chapeau’s public debut at the Salon d’Automne in 1905,
bringing together the greatest number of works from that historic display in over a century. Visitors will see why paintings by Matisse, André Derain, Albert Marquet, Maurice de Vlaminck, and others sparked such heated debate and admiration during their time.

The exhibition also traces how artists have responded to Femme au chapeau across generations.
With works from Matisse’s peers to those by contemporary artists such as Hilary Harkness and Rachel Harrison, the exhibition reveals how painting has shaped perceptions about color, content, form, and expression. The exhibition uncovers Matisse’s impact closer to San Francisco, on Bay Area Figurative artists like Joan Brown, Richard Diebenkorn, and David Park.