Joie de vivre is a
French phrase meaning,
literally, "The
joy of
living." It is more commonly defined as "A feeling of
healthy and exuberant enjoyment of life",
exuberance, or
high spirits. It is often used to describe someone's, usually an
artist's or
author's, attitude towards life channeled into their work.
Joie de vivre is also the name of a painting by Henri Matisse. Matisse spent 2 years, from 1905 to 1906, working on the painting. Done in the Fauvist style, the oil-on-canvas work depicts a group of nudes in a glade, experiencing "the joy of living." An image of the painting can be found at
http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/images/582bg.jpg .
Sources:
www.xrefer.com
- The Oxford English Reference Dictionary
-
The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists
www.usc.edu