Christa Giles

208
yeux obstinément fermés, j’entrevois, sous le
voile de mes paupières, une vapeur rouge; je
rappelle mes souvenirs et je revois, pour une
minute, pour une seconde, l’inquiétante
fascination, l’inoubliable enchantement. 532
Huysmans, rather than reconstructing the moment through
descriptive detail, tries to convey its essence. Similarly,
future artists, instead of attempting to represent, try to
directly convey their sentient response. Thus Matisse
explains: ˝I merely try to find a color that will fit my
sensation.˝ 533 Therefore, in order to paint an autumn
landscape, rather than simply choosing the obvious
autumnal colours, he chooses instead colours which
correspond to the sensation the season gives him.
Kandinsky clarifies this connection between the
psychological and, by extension, physical response of the
observer:
The soul being one with the body, it may well
be possible that a psychological tremor
generates a corresponding one through
association. For example, red may cause a
sensation analogous to that caused by flame,
because red is the color of flame. A warm red
will prove exciting, another shade of red will
cause pain or disgust through association
with running blood. In these cases color