The title stems from the vertical green stripe down the middle of Madame Matisse's face, an artistic decision consistent with the techniques and values of Fauvism.

[3] Matisse spent the summer of 1905 painting and drawing in the Mediterranean fishing town of Collioure, France with fellow artist André Derain.

During Matisse’s time in Collioure, he created multiple iconic Fauvist paintings in addition to The Green Stripe.

[3] These bold colors are organized into sections that define Madame Matisse's facial features and the lighting of the room wherein she is seated.

[7] Matisse employed shorter paint strokes and a variety of intermingling colors in Woman with a Hat, creating a whimsical environment that does not delve into the character of the subject.

A friend of the painting's owners Michael and Sarah Stein called it "a demented caricature of a portrait," and in 1910 the critic Gelett Burgess wrote that The Green Stripe was Matisse's "punishment" of Amélie that compelled the viewer "to see in her a strange and terrible aspect.

"[8] The art historian John Klein has suggested that difficulties in the Matisses' marriage may have contributed to the portrait's impersonal and mask-like character.