I know I am not the first artist to turn to Matisse’s The Red Studio for inspiration. In creating Outline, I started from his reserve line technique. I took the contours that caught my attention in the painting, enlarged them, and transformed them into abstract images.
1. Henri Matisse, 1911
The Red Studio
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
2. Oleg Komarov, from the series Outline, 2025
Exhibition view, HfG Offenbach, Germany
3. Oleg Komarov, 2025
from the series Outline
4. Karl Blossfeldt, 1928,
from Urformen der Kunst, Rijksmuseum
5. Karl Blossfeldt, Pumpkin, 1928,
from Urformen der Kunst, Rijksmuseum
6. Étienne-Jules Marey, 1886
Étienne-Jules Marey shaking a flexible rod
7. Barnett Newman
Vir Heroicus Sublimis, 1950-51
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
8. Oleg Komarov, 2025
from the series Outline
9. Ellsworth Kelly, 1973
Yellow with Red Triangle
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.