Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter. Matisse is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso, as one of the artists who best helped to define the revolutionary developments in the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts a ...

throughout the opening decades of the twentieth century, responsible for significant developments in painting and sculpture. The intense colourism of the works he painted between 1900 and 1905 brought him notoriety as one of the Fauves (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "wild beasts"). Many of his finest works were created in the decade or so after 1906, when he developed a rigorous style that emphasised flattened forms and decorative pattern. In 1917, he relocated to a suburb of Nice on the French Riviera, and the more relaxed style of his work during the 1920s gained him critical acclaim as an upholder of the classical tradition in

French painting French art consists of the visual arts, visual and plastic arts (including French architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France. Modern France was the main centre for the European art of the Up ...

. After 1930, he adopted a bolder simplification of

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data * ...

. When ill health in his final years prevented him from painting, he created an important body of work in the medium of cut paper

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

. His mastery of the expressive language of colour and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tra ...

Early life and education

Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, in the

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in Northern France on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

in 1869, the oldest son of a wealthy grain merchant. He grew up in

Bohain-en-Vermandois Bohain-en-Vermandois ( pcd, Bohain-in-Vérmindos) is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is the place where the painter Henri Matisse grew up. Etymology Formerly called Bohain, the town acquired its ...

, Picardie, France. In 1887, he went to Paris to study law, working as a court administrator in Le Cateau-Cambrésis after gaining his qualification. He first started to paint in 1889, after his mother brought him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...

. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to become an artist, deeply disappointing his father.Bärbel Küster. "Arbeiten und auf niemanden hören." '' Süddeutsche Zeitung'', 6 July 2007. In 1891, he returned to Paris to study art at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number ...

under

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

and at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts under

Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.'' ...

. Initially he painted still lifes and landscapes in a traditional style, at which he achieved reasonable proficiency. Matisse was influenced by the works of earlier masters such as Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Nicolas Poussin, and

Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...

, as well as by modern artists, such as Édouard Manet, and by

Japanese art Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and calligraphy on silk and paper, ''ukiyo-e'' paintings and woodblock prints, ceramics, origami, and more recently manga and anime. It ...

. Chardin was one of the painters Matisse most admired; as an art student he made copies of four of Chardin's paintings in the Louvre. In 1896, Matisse, an unknown art student at the time, visited the Australian painter John Russell on the island

Belle Île Belle-Île, Belle-Île-en-Mer, or Belle Isle ( br, Ar Gerveur, ; br, label=Old Breton, Guedel) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon pen ...

off the coast of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

. Russell introduced him to Impressionism and to the work of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

—who had been a friend of Russell—and gave him a Van Gogh drawing. Matisse's style changed completely; abandoning his earth-coloured palette for bright colours. He later said Russell was his teacher, and that Russell had explained

colour theory In the visual arts, color theory is the body of practical guidance for color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. Color terminology based on the color wheel and its geometry separates colors into primary color, seconda ...

to him. The same year, Matisse exhibited five paintings in the salon of the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Es ...

, two of which were purchased by the state. Henri + Amélie Matisse Portrait 1898

With the model Caroline Joblau, he had a daughter, Marguerite, born in 1894. In 1898, he married Amélie Noellie Parayre; the two raised Marguerite together and had two sons, Jean (born 1899) and Pierre (born 1900). Marguerite and Amélie often served as models for Matisse. In 1898, on the advice of

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). Hi ...

, he went to London to study the paintings of

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

and then went on a trip to

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast o ...

.Oxford Art Online, "Henri Matisse" Upon his return to Paris in February 1899, he worked beside

Albert Marquet Albert Marquet (27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more naturali ...

and met

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France, just outside Paris. In ...

Jean Puy Jean Puy (8 November 1876 in Roanne, Loire – 6 March 1960 in Roanne) was a French Fauvist artist. Life and work He studied architecture at the École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon and painting with Jean-Paul Laurens at l'Académie Juli ...

,Leymarie, Jean; Read, Herbert; Lieberman, William S. (1966), ''Henri Matisse'', UCLA Art Council, p.10. and

Jules Flandrin Jules Flandrin (1871–1947) was a French painter, printer and draughtsman. He was a pupil of Gustave Moreau. He was a contemporary of Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, Albert Marquet, Henri Evenepoel and Léon Printemps. He became somewhat f ...

. Matisse immersed himself in the work of others and went into debt from buying work from painters he admired. The work he hung and displayed in his home included a plaster bust by Rodin, a painting by

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fro ...

, a drawing by Van Gogh, and Cézanne's ''Three Bathers''. In Cézanne's sense of pictorial structure and colour, Matisse found his main inspiration. Many of Matisse's paintings from 1898 to 1901 make use of a

Divisionist Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, was the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of ...

technique he adopted after reading Paul Signac's essay, "". In May 1902, Amélie's parents became ensnared in a major financial scandal, the Humbert Affair. Her mother (who was the Humbert family's housekeeper) and father became scapegoats in the scandal, and her family was menaced by angry mobs of fraud victims.Spurling, Hilary, 2005, "Matisse's Pajamas", ''The New York Review of Books'', 11 August 2005, pp. 33–36. According to art historian

Hilary Spurling Susan Hilary Spurling CBE FRSL ( Forrest; born 25 December 1940) is a British writer, known for her work as a journalist and biographer. Early life and education Born at Stockport, Cheshire, to circuit judge Gilbert Alexander Forrest (1912–197 ...

, "their public exposure, followed by the arrest of his father-in-law, left Matisse as the sole breadwinner for an extended family of seven." During 1902 to 1903, Matisse adopted a style of painting that was comparatively somber and concerned with form, a change possibly intended to produce saleable works during this time of material hardship. Having made his first attempt at sculpture, a copy after

Antoine-Louis Barye Antoine-Louis Barye (24 September 179525 June 1875) was a Romantic French sculptor most famous for his work as an '' animalier'', a sculptor of animals. His son and student was the known sculptor Alfred Barye. Biography Born in Paris, France, ...

, in 1899, he devoted much of his energy to working in clay, completing ''The Slave'' in 1903.

Early paintings

File:Matisse the study of moreau.jpg, ''

's Studio'', 1894-1895 File:Matisse - Blue Pot and Lemon (1897).jpg, ''Blue Pot and Lemon'' (1897), Hermitage Museum,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia File:Matisse Mur Rose.jpg, '' Le Mur Rose'', 1898,

Jewish Museum Frankfurt The Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main is the oldest independent Jewish Museum in Germany. It was opened by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on 9 November 1988, the 50th anniversary of ''Kristallnacht''. The Jewish Museum collects, preserves and co ...

File:Matisse - Fruit and Coffeepot (1898).jpg, ''Fruit and Coffeepot'' (1898), Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Matisse - Vase of Sunflowers (1898).jpg, ''Vase of Sunflowers'' (1898), Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Study of a nude by Matisse.jpg, ''Study of a Nude'', 1899,

Bridgestone Museum of Art Artizon Museum , until 2018 , is an art museum in Tokyo, Japan. The museum was founded in 1952 by the founder of Bridgestone Tire Co., Ishibashi Shojiro (his family name means stone bridge). The museum's collections include Impressionists, ...

, Tokyo File:Henri Matisse, 1899, Still Life with Compote, Apples and Oranges, oil on canvas, 46.4 x 55.6 cm, The Cone Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art.jpg, ''Still Life with Compote, Apples and Oranges,'' 1899, The Cone Collection,

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

File:Matisse - Crockery on a Table (1900).jpg, ''Crockery on a Table'' (1900), Hermitage Museum,

, Russia

Fauvism

Fauvism as a style began around 1900 and continued beyond 1910. The

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

as such lasted only a few years, 1904–1908, and had three exhibitions. John Elderfield, The ''"Wild Beasts" Fauvism and Its Affinities,'' 1976,

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...

, p.13, The leaders of the movement were Matisse and

. Matisse's first solo exhibition was at

Ambroise Vollard Ambroise Vollard (3 July 1866 – 21 July 1939) was a French art dealer who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is credited with providing exposure and emotio ...

's gallery in 1904, without much success. His fondness for bright and expressive colour became more pronounced after he spent the summer of 1904 painting in

St. Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Alp ...

with the

neo-Impressionist Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginni ...

s Signac and

Henri-Edmond Cross Henri-Edmond Cross, born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, (20 May 1856 – 16 May 1910) was a French painter and printmaker. He is most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism and he played an important role in shaping the second phase of ...

. In that year, he painted the most important of his works in the neo-Impressionist style, '' Luxe, Calme et Volupté''. In 1905, he travelled southwards again to work with

Collioure Collioure (; ca, Cotlliure, ) is a commune in the southern French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille (Vermilion Coast), in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement ...

. His paintings of this period are characterised by flat shapes and controlled lines, using

pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism ...

in a less rigorous way than before. Matisse and a group of artists now known as " Fauves" exhibited together in a room at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

in 1905. The paintings expressed emotion with wild, often dissonant colours, without regard for the subject's natural colours. Matisse showed ''Open Window'' and ''Woman with the Hat'' at the Salon. Critic

Louis Vauxcelles Louis Vauxcelles (born Louis Meyer; 1 January 187021 July 1943) was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms ''Fauvism'' (1905) and ''Cubism'' (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, Vasari, C ...

commented on a lone sculpture surrounded by an "orgy of pure tones" as " Donatello chez les fauves" (Donatello among the wild beasts),Vauxcelles, Louis

Gil Blas, Supplément à Gil Blas du 17 octobre 1905, p.8, col.1, Salle VII (end). Retrieved from France Gallica, bibliothèque numérique (digital library), Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1 December 2013. referring to a Renaissance-type sculpture that shared the room with them.Chilver, Ian (Ed.)
"Fauvism"
, The Oxford Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved from enotes.com, 26 December 2007. His comment was printed on 17 October 1905 in ''

Gil Blas ''Gil Blas'' (french: L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane ) is a picaresque novel by Alain-René Lesage published between 1715 and 1735. It was highly popular, and was translated several times into English, most notably as The Adventures of Gi ...

'', a daily newspaper, and passed into popular usage. The exhibition garnered harsh criticism—"A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public", said the critic

Camille Mauclair Séverin Faust (December 29, 1872, Paris – April 23, 1945), better known by his pseudonym Camille Mauclair, was a French poet, novelist, biographer, travel writer, and art critic. Background Mauclair was a great admirer of Stéphane Mallarmé, ...

—but also some favourable attention. When the painting that was singled out for special condemnation, Matisse's '' Woman with a Hat'', was bought by Gertrude and

Leo Stein Leo Stein (May 11, 1872 – July 29, 1947) was an American art collector and critic. He was born in Allegheny City (now in Pittsburgh), the older brother of Gertrude Stein. He became an influential promoter of 20th-century paintings. Education ...

, the embattled artist's morale improved considerably. Matisse was recognised as a leader of the Fauves, along with André Derain; the two were friendly rivals, each with his own followers. Other members were Georges Braque,

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...

, and

Maurice de Vlaminck Maurice de Vlaminck (4 April 1876 – 11 October 1958) was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse, he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauvism, Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to ...

. The

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...

painter

(1826–1898) was the movement's inspirational teacher. As a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he pushed his students to think outside of the lines of formality and to follow their visions. In 1907,

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of th ...

, commenting about Matisse in an article published in ''La Falange'', wrote, "We are not here in the presence of an extravagant or an extremist undertaking: Matisse's art is eminently reasonable." But Matisse's work of the time also encountered vehement criticism, and it was difficult for him to provide for his family. His painting '' Nu bleu'' (1907) was burned in effigy at the

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

in Chicago in 1913. The decline of the Fauvist movement after 1906 did not affect the career of Matisse; many of his finest works were created between 1906 and 1917, when he was an active part of the great gathering of artistic talent in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has be ...

, even though he did not quite fit in, with his conservative appearance and strict

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

work habits. He continued to absorb new influences. He travelled to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 1906 studying African art and Primitivism. After viewing a large exhibition of Islamic art in Munich in 1910, he spent two months in Spain studying Moorish art. He visited Morocco in 1912 and again in 1913 and while painting in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

he made several changes to his work, including his use of black as a colour. The effect on Matisse's art was a new boldness in the use of intense, unmodulated colour, as in ''

L'Atelier Rouge ''L'Atelier Rouge'', also known as ''The Red Studio,'' is a painting by Henri Matisse from 1911, in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York City. In 2004, ''L'Atelier Rouge'' came in at No. 5 in a poll of 500 art experts voting f ...

'' (1911). Matisse had a long association with the Russian art collector Sergei Shchukin. He created one of his major works '' La Danse'' specially for Shchukin as part of a two painting commission, the other painting being ''Music,'' 1910. An earlier version of ''La Danse'' (1909) is in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Selected works: Paris, 1901–1910

File:Matisse - Luxembourg Gardens (1901).jpg, ''Luxembourg Gardens'', 1901, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Matisse - Dishes and Fruit (1901).jpg, ''Dishes and Fruit'', 1901, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Henri Matisse, 1902, Notre-Dame, une fin d'après-midi, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 72.4 x 54.6 cm, Albright-Knox Art Gallery.jpg, '' A Glimpse of Notre-Dame in the Late Afternoon'', 1902,

Albright–Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Southe ...

File:Henri Matisse, 1904, Nu (Carmelita), oil on canvas, 81.3 x 59 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.jpg, ''Nu (Carmelita)'', 1904,

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

File:Matisse-Luxe.jpg, '' Luxe, Calme et Volupté'', 1904, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France File:Matisse Les toits.jpg, '' Landscape at Collioure'', 1905,

, New York City File:Matisse-Open-Window.jpg, '' Open Window, Collioure'', 1905, National Gallery of Art,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

Image:Matisse - Green Line.jpeg, '' Portrait of Madame Matisse (The green line),'' 1905,

Statens Museum for Kunst The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...

, Copenhagen, Denmark File:Bonheur Matisse.jpg, ''

Le bonheur de vivre ''Le bonheur de vivre'' (''The Joy of Life'') is a painting by Henri Matisse. Along with Picasso's ''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'', ''Le bonheur de vivre'' is regarded as one of the pillars of early modernism. The monumental canvas was first exhib ...

'', 1905–6,

Barnes Foundation The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pen ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania File:Henri Matisse Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt (1906).jpg, ''

Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt ''Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt'' (1906) is an oil on canvas painting by Henri Matisse from his Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century m ...

'' 1906,

, Copenhagen, Denmark Image:Young Sailor II.jpg, '' The Young Sailor II,'' 1906, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City File:Matisse - Vase, Bottle and Fruit (1906).jpg, ''Vase, Bottle and Fruit'', 1906, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Matisse Souvenir de Biskra.jpg, '' Blue Nude'', 1907,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, Maryland File:Henri Matisse, 1907, La coiffure, 116 x 89 cm, oil on canvas, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart.jpg, ''La coiffure'', 1907, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany File:Matisse.mme-matisse-madras.jpg, '' Madras Rouge'', ''The Red Turban'', 1907,

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show) File:Henri Matisse, Le Luxe II, 1907–8, Distemper on canvas; 82 1-2 x 54 3-4 in. (209.5 x 138 cm), Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.jpg, ''Le Luxe II'', 1907–08,

, Copenhagen, Denmark File:Henri Matisse, 1907, Les trois baigneuses (Three Bathers), oil on canvas, 60.3 x 73 cm, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.jpg, ''Les trois baigneuses (Three Bathers)'', 1907,

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

, Minneapolis File:Bathers with a turtle.jpg, ''

Bathers with a Turtle ''Bathers with a Turtle'' is a painting by Henri Matisse from 1907 to 1908, in the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1908 it has been acquired by Karl Ernst Osthaus who included it into the Folkwang Museum i ...

'', 1908,

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, M ...

, St. Louis File:Matisse - Game of Bowls.jpg, ''

Game of Bowls ''Game of Bowls'' is a 1908 painting by the French artist Henri Matisse. The painting shows three young men, probably Matisse's sons and nephew, playing a game of boules. Matisse sees the game as a manifestation of man's creativity, and an instrum ...

,'' 1908, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Henri Matisse, 1909, La danse (I), Museum of Modern Art.jpg, '' La Danse (first version),'' 1909,

, New York City File:Henri Matisse, 1909, Still Life with Dance, oil on canvas, 89.5 x 117.5 cm, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.jpg, ''Still Life with Dance'', 1909, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia Image:Matissedance.jpg, '' La Danse (second version),'' 1910, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia File:Henri Matisse, 1910-12, Les Capucines (Nasturtiums with The Dance II), oil on canvas, 193 x 114 cm, Pushkin Museum.jpg, ''Les Capucines (Nasturtiums with The Dance II)'', 1910–12,

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...

, Moscow, Russia File:Matisse - Music.jpg, '' Music,'' 1910, Hermitage Museum,

, Russia

Sculpture

File:Henri Matisse, 1900-1904, Le Serf (The Serf, Der Sklave), bronze.jpg, Henri Matisse, 1900–1904, ''Le Serf'' (''The Serf, Der Sklave''), bronze File:Henri Matisse, 1905, Sleep, wood, exhibition Blue Rose (Голубая Роза), 1907, location unknown.jpg, Henri Matisse, 1905, ''Sleep'', wood, exhibition Blue Rose (Голубая Роза), 1907, location unknown File:Henri Matisse, 1906-07, Nu couché, I (Reclining Nude, I), exhibited at Montross Gallery, New York, 1915.jpg, Henri Matisse, 1906–07, ''Nu couché, I'' (''Reclining Nude, I''), bronze, exhibited at Montross Gallery, New York, 1915 File:Henri Matisse, 1907, Awakening, plaster, exhibition Salon of the Golden Fleece (Салон Золотого Руна) 1908.jpg, Henri Matisse, 1907, ''Awakening'', plaster, exhibition Salon of the Golden Fleece (Салон Золотого Руна) 1908 File:Henri Matisse, 1908, Figure décorative, bronze.jpg, Henri Matisse, 1908, ''Figure décorative'', bronze

Gertrude Stein, Académie Matisse, and the Cone sisters

Around April 1906, Matisse met Pablo Picasso, who was 11 years his junior.The Unknown Matisse, pp 352–553...

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

, 8 June 2005 The two became lifelong friends as well as rivals and are often compared. One key difference between them is that Matisse drew and painted from nature, while Picasso was more inclined to work from imagination. The subjects painted most frequently by both artists were women and still lifes, with Matisse more likely to place his figures in fully realised interiors. Matisse and Picasso were first brought together at the Paris salon of Gertrude Stein with her partner

Alice B. Toklas Alice Babette Toklas (April 30, 1877 – March 7, 1967) was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century, and the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein. Early life Alice B. Toklas was born in San F ...

. During the first decade of the twentieth century, the Americans in Paris—Gertrude Stein, her brothers

, Michael Stein, and Michael's wife Sarah—were important collectors and supporters of Matisse's paintings. In addition, Gertrude Stein's two American friends from

, the

Cone sisters Claribel Cone (1864–1929) and Etta Cone (1870–1949), collectively known as the Cone sisters, were active as American art collectors, world travelers, and socialites during the first part of the 20th century. Claribel trained as a physician an ...

Claribel and Etta, became major patrons of Matisse and Picasso, collecting hundreds of their paintings and drawings. The Cone collection is now exhibited in the

. While numerous artists visited the Stein salon, many of these artists were not represented among the paintings on the walls at

27 rue de Fleurus 27 rue de Fleurus was the home of the American writer Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas from 1903 to 1938. It is in the 6th arrondissement of Paris on the Left Bank. It was also the home of Gertrude's brother Leo Stein for a time in ...

. Where the works of Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso dominated Leo and Gertrude Stein's collection, Sarah Stein's collection particularly emphasised Matisse. Contemporaries of Leo and Gertrude Stein, Matisse and Picasso became part of their social circle and routinely joined the gatherings that took place on Saturday evenings at 27 rue de Fleurus. Gertrude attributed the beginnings of the Saturday evening salons to Matisse, remarking:

More and more frequently, people began visiting to see the Matisse paintings—and the Cézannes: Matisse brought people, everybody brought somebody, and they came at any time and it began to be a nuisance, and it was in this way that Saturday evenings began.

Among Pablo Picasso's acquaintances who also frequented the Saturday evenings were

Fernande Olivier Fernande Olivier (born Amélie Lang; 6 June 1881 – 29 January 1966) was a French artist and model known primarily for having been the model and first muse of painter Pablo Picasso, and for her written accounts of her relationship with him. Pic ...

(Picasso's mistress), Georges Braque,

, the poets Max Jacob and

, Marie Laurencin (Apollinaire's mistress and an artist in her own right), and Henri Rousseau. His friends organized and financed the ''Académie Matisse'' in Paris, a private and non-commercial school in which Matisse instructed young artists. It operated from 1907 until 1911. The initiative for the academy came from the Steins and the Dômiers, with the involvement of

Hans Purrmann Hans Marsilius Purrmann (April 10, 1880 – April 17, 1966) was a German artist. He was born in Speyer where he also grew up. He completed an apprenticeship as a scene painter and interior decorator, and subsequently studied in Karlsruhe and ...

Patrick Henry Bruce Artist Patrick Henry Bruce (3rd from left) & friends/associates in front of the entrance to a 300px Patrick Henry Bruce (March 25, 1881 – November 12, 1936) was an American cubist painter. Biography A descendant of Patrick Henry, Bruce w ...

, and

Sarah Stein Sarah Stein (née Samuels) (July 26, 1870 – 1953) was an American art collector. With her husband Michael Stein, the older brother of Leo Stein and Gertrude Stein, she lived in Paris from 1903 to 1935. She supported and popularized the painter ...

. Matisse spent seven months in Morocco from 1912 to 1913, producing about 24 paintings and numerous drawings. His frequent orientalist topics of later paintings, such as odalisques, can be traced to this period. Goldfish in aquariums also became a frequently recurring theme in Matisse's art following his trip to Morocco.

Selected works: Paris, 1910–1917

File:Matisse518.jpg, ''

Still Life with Geraniums ''Still Life with Geraniums'' is a 1910 oil on canvas painting by Henri Matisse. The oil painting is in the collection of Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany, to whom it was given in 1912, thus becoming, according to the museum, the first Ma ...

,'' 1910,

Pinakothek der Moderne The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's ''Kunstareal''. Locals sometimes refer to it as the ''Dritte'' ("third") ''Pinakothek'' after the Old and New. It is one of the wor ...

, Munich, Germany File:Atelier rouge matisse 1.jpg, ''

'', 1911, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City File:Matisse Conversation.jpg, ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rob ...

,'' c.1911, The Hermitage,

, Russia File:Henri Matisse, 1911-12, La Fenêtre à Tanger (Paysage vu d'une fenêtre Landscape viewed from a window, Tangiers), oil on canvas, 115 x 80 cm, Pushkin Museum.jpg, ''

Window at Tangier ''Window at Tangier''; also referred to as ''La Fenêtre à Tanger'', ''Paysage vu d'une fenêtre'', and ''Landscape viewed from a window, Tangiers'', is a painting by Henri Matisse, executed in 1912. It is held at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, ...

,'' 1911–12, The

Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...

, Moscow File:Zorah on the Terrace.jpg, ''

Zorah on the Terrace ''Zorah on the Terrace'' (1912), oil on canvas, is a painting by Henri Matisse in the collection of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Моск� ...

'', 1912, The

, Moscow, Russia File:Matisse Riffian.jpg, '' Le Rifain assis'', 1912–13, 200 × 160 cm.

File:Henri Matisse, 1913, Portrait of the Artist's Wife, oil on canvas, 146 x 97.7 cm, Hermitage, Saint Petersburg.jpg, ''Portrait of the Artist's Wife'', 1913, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg File:Henri Matisse, 1913, La glace sans tain (The Blue Window), oil on canvas, 130.8 x 90.5 cm, Museum of Modern Art.jpg, ''La glace sans tain'' (''The Blue Window''), 1913,

File:Matisse Woman on a high stool.jpg, ''

Woman on a High Stool ''Woman on a High Stool'' (French: ''Femme au tabouret'', ''La femme assise'') is an oil painting on canvas by the French artist Henri Matisse from early 1914. It is a portrait of Germaine Raynal, the wife of the poet and art critic Maurice Ra ...

,'' 1914,

, New York City File:Henri Matisse - View of Notre Dame. Paris, quai Saint-Michel, spring 1914.jpg, ''

View of Notre-Dame ''View of Notre-Dame'' (French: ''Une vue de Notre-Dame'') is an oil painting by Henri Matisse from 1914. Experimental period Along with works such as '' Woman on a High Stool'', it belongs to the "experimental period" of Matisse's oeuvre. Pent ...

,'' 1914,

File:Henri Matisse, 1914, Les poissons rouges (Interior with a Goldfish Bowl), oil on canvas, 147 x 97 cm, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.jpg, ''Les poissons rouges (Interior with a Goldfish Bowl)'',

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in t ...

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris File:Porte-Fenetre a Collioure 1914.jpg, ''French Window at

'', 1914.

, Paris File:Yellow Curtain.jpg, '' The Yellow Curtain,'' 1915,

, New York File:Henri Matisse, 1916-17, Auguste Pellerin II, oil on canvas, 150.2 x 96.2 cm, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.jpg, ''Auguste Pellerin II'', 1916–17,

, Paris File:Henri Matisse, 1916-17, Le Peintre dans son atelier (The Painter and His Model), oil on canvas, 146.5 x 97 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.jpg, '' The Painter and His Model (Le Peintre dans son atelier)'', 1916–17, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris File:Henri Matisse, 1917, Three Sisters and The Rose Marble Table (Les Trois sœurs à La Table de marbre rose), oil on canvas, 194.3 x 96.2 cm, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.jpg, ''Three Sisters and The Rose Marble Table (Les Trois sœurs à La Table de marbre rose)'', 1917,

, Philadelphia File:Henri Matisse, 1917, Portrait de famille (The Music Lesson), oil on canvas, 245.1 x 210.8 cm, Barnes Foundation.jpg, ''Portrait de famille (The Music Lesson)'', 1917, oil on canvas, 245.1 x 210.8 cm,

After Paris

In 1917, Matisse relocated to

Cimiez Cimiez (; Italian: ''Cimella'') is an upper class neighborhood in Nice, Southern France. The area contains the Musée Matisse and the ruins of ''Cemenelum'', capital of the Ancient Roman province Alpes Maritimae on the Ligurian coast. ''Cemene ...

on the French Riviera, a suburb of the city of Nice. His work of the decade or so following this relocation shows a relaxation and softening of his approach. This "

return to order The return to order ( French: ''retour à l'ordre'') was a European art movement that followed the First World War, rejecting the extreme avant-garde art of the years up to 1918 and taking its inspiration from classical art instead. The movement ...

" is characteristic of much post- World War I art, and can be compared with the

neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. ...

of Picasso and Stravinsky as well as the return to traditionalism of Derain. Matisse's orientalist odalisque paintings are characteristic of the period; while this work was popular, some contemporary critics found it shallow and decorative. In the late 1920s, Matisse once again engaged in active collaborations with other artists. He worked with not only Frenchmen, Dutch, Germans, and Spaniards, but also a few Americans and recent American immigrants. After 1930, a new vigor and bolder simplification appeared in his work. American art collector

Albert C. Barnes Albert Coombs Barnes (January 2, 1872 – July 24, 1951) was an American chemist, businessman, art collector, writer, and educator, and the founder of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.“Biographical Note,” Albert C. Barne ...

convinced Matisse to produce a large mural for the

, '' The Dance II'', which was completed in 1932; the Foundation owns several dozen other Matisse paintings. This move toward simplification and a foreshadowing of the cut-out technique is also evident in his painting ''Large Reclining Nude'' (1935). Matisse worked on this painting for several months and documented the progress with a series of 22 photographs, which he sent to Etta Cone.

World War II years

Matisse's wife Amélie, who suspected that he was having an affair with her young Russian emigre companion,

Lydia Delectorskaya Lydia Nikolaevna Délectorskaya (23 June 1910 Tomsk - 16 March 1998 Paris) was a Russian refugee and model best known for her collaboration with Henri Matisse from 1932 onwards. Early life Born in the Siberian city of Tomsk, the only daughter ...

, ended their 41-year marriage in July 1939, dividing their possessions equally between them. Delectorskaya attempted suicide by shooting herself in the chest; remarkably, she survived with no serious after-effects, and returned to Matisse and worked with him for the rest of his life, running his household, paying the bills, typing his correspondence, keeping meticulous records, assisting in the studio, and coordinating his business affairs. Matisse was visiting Paris when

the Nazis invaded France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

in June 1940, but managed to make his way back to Nice. His son, Pierre, by then a gallery owner in New York, begged him to flee while he could. Matisse was about to depart for Brazil to escape the occupation of France but changed his mind and remained in Nice, in

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

. "It seemed to me as if I would be deserting," he wrote Pierre in September 1940. "If everyone who has any value leaves France, what remains of France?". Although he was never a member of the resistance, it became a point of pride to the occupied French that one of their most acclaimed artists chose to stay, though of course, being non-Jewish, he had that option. While the Nazis occupied France from 1940 to 1944, they were more lenient in their attacks on "degenerate art" in Paris than they were in the German-speaking nations under their military dictatorship. Matisse was allowed to exhibit along with other former Fauves and Cubists whom Hitler had initially claimed to despise, though without any Jewish artists, all of whose works had been purged from all French museums and galleries; any French artists exhibiting in France had to sign an oath assuring their "Aryan" status—including Matisse. He also worked as a graphic artist and produced black-and-white illustrations for several books and over one hundred original lithographs at the Mourlot Studios in Paris. In 1941, Matisse was diagnosed with

duodenal cancer Duodenal cancer is a cancer in the first section of the small intestine known as the duodenum. Cancer of the duodenum is relatively rare compared to stomach cancer and colorectal cancer. Its histology is usually adenocarcinoma. Familial adenoma ...

. The surgery, while successful, resulted in serious complications from which he nearly died. Being bedridden for three months resulted in his developing a new art form using paper and scissors. That same year, a nursing student named Monique Bourgeois responded to an advertisement placed by Matisse for a nurse. A platonic friendship developed between Matisse and Bourgeois. He discovered that she was an amateur artist and taught her about perspective. After Bourgeois left the position to join a convent in 1944, Matisse sometimes contacted her to request that she model for him. Bourgeois became a Dominican nun in 1946, and Matisse painted a chapel in Vence, a small town he moved to in 1943, in her honor. Matisse remained for the most part isolated in southern France throughout the war but his family was intimately involved with the French resistance. His son Pierre, the art dealer in New York, helped the Jewish and anti-Nazi French artists he represented to escape occupied France and enter the United States. In 1942, Pierre held an exhibition in New York, "Artists in Exile," which was to become legendary. Matisse's estranged wife, Amélie, was a typist for the French Underground and jailed for six months. Matisse was shocked when he heard that his daughter Marguerite, who had been active in the

Résistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during the war, was tortured (almost to death) by the Gestapo in a Rennes prison and sentenced to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. Marguerite managed to escape from the train to Ravensbrück, which was halted during an Allied air raid; she survived in the woods in the chaos of the closing days of the war until rescued by fellow resisters. Matisse's student Rudolf Levy was killed in the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It co ...

in 1944.

Final years

Cut-outs

Diagnosed with abdominal cancer in 1941, Matisse underwent surgery that left him reliant on a wheelchair and often bedbound. Painting and sculpture had become physical challenges, so he turned to a new type of medium. With the help of his assistants, he began creating cut paper collages, or

decoupage ''Decoupage'' or ''découpage'' (; ) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an it ...

. He would cut sheets of paper, pre-painted with gouache by his assistants, into shapes of varying colours and sizes, and arrange them to form lively compositions. Initially, these pieces were modest in size, but eventually transformed into murals or room-sized works. The result was a distinct and dimensional complexity—an art form that was not quite painting, but not quite sculpture. He called the last fourteen years of his life “une seconde vie,” meaning his second life. When talking about his work, Matisse mentioned that, while his mobility was limited, he could wander through gardens in the form of his artwork. Although the paper cut-out was Matisse's major medium in the final decade of his life, his first recorded use of the technique was in 1919 during the design of decor for the '' Le chant du rossignol'', an opera composed by Igor Stravinsky.

arranged for cardboard templates to be made of the unusual dimensions of the walls onto which Matisse, in his studio in Nice, fixed the composition of painted paper shapes. Another group of cut-outs were made between 1937 and 1938, while Matisse was working on the stage sets and costumes for Sergei Diaghilev's

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...

. However, it was only after his operation that, bedridden, Matisse began to develop the cut-out technique as its own form, rather than its prior utilitarian origin.
He moved to the hilltop of Vence, France in 1943, where he produced his first major cut-out project for his artist's book titled '' Jazz''. However, these cut-outs were conceived as designs for stencil prints to be looked at in the book, rather than as independent pictorial works. At this point, Matisse still thought of the cut-outs as separate from his principal art form. His new understanding of this medium unfolds with the 1946 introduction for ''Jazz''. After summarizing his career, Matisse refers to the possibilities the cut-out technique offers, insisting "An artist must never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of a style, prisoner of a reputation, prisoner of success…"
The number of independently conceived cut-outs steadily increased following ''Jazz'', and eventually led to the creation of mural-size works, such as ''Oceania the Sky'' and ''Oceania the Sea'' of 1946. Under Matisse's direction, Lydia Delectorskaya, his studio assistant, loosely pinned the silhouettes of birds, fish, and marine vegetation directly onto the walls of the room. The two Oceania pieces, his first cut-outs of this scale, evoked a trip to Tahiti he made years before. In May 1954, his cut out The Sheaf was exhibited at the Salon de Mai and met with success. The artwork was a commission for American collectors Mr and Mrs Brody and the cut out was then adpated to a ceramic for their house in Los Angeles. It is now located in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Chapel and museum

In 1948, Matisse began to prepare designs for the

Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence The Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence (Chapel of the Rosary), often referred to as the Matisse Chapel or the Vence Chapel, is a small Catholic chapel located in the town of Vence on the French Riviera. It was dedicated to the Dominican Order. The chu ...

, which allowed him to expand this technique within a truly decorative context. The experience of designing the chapel windows,

chasubles The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Easter ...

, and tabernacle door—all planned using the cut-out method—had the effect of consolidating the medium as his primary focus. Finishing his last painting in 1951 (and final sculpture the year before), Matisse utilized the paper cut-out as his sole medium for expression up until his death.
This project was the result of the close friendship between Matisse and Bourgeois, now Sister Jacques-Marie, despite him being an atheist. They had met again in

Vence Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop of Vence is Seve ...

and started the collaboration, a story related in her 1992 book ''Henri Matisse: La Chapelle de Vence'' and in the 2003 documentary "A Model for Matisse". In 1952, he established a museum dedicated to his work, the Matisse Museum in Le Cateau, and this museum is now the third-largest collection of Matisse works in France. According to David Rockefeller, Matisse's final work was the design for a stained-glass window installed at the

Union Church of Pocantico Hills Union Church of Pocantico Hills is a historic church in Pocantico Hills, New York. The church was built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1921, as part of his plans to develop the town of Pocantico Hills, which was below his estate Kykuit. Upon the ...

near the Rockefeller estate north of New York City. "It was his final artistic creation; the

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

was on the wall of his bedroom when he died in November of 1954", Rockefeller writes. Installation was completed in 1956.

Death

Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 on 3 November 1954. He is buried in the cemetery of the Monastère Notre Dame de Cimiez, in the

neighbourhood of Nice.

Legacy

The first painting of Matisse acquired by a public collection was ''

'' (1910), exhibited in the

.Butler, Desmond
"Art/Architecture; A Home for the Modern In a Time-Bound City"
'' The New York Times'', 10 November 2002. Retrieved 25 December 2007. His '' The Plum Blossoms'' (1948) was purchased on 8 September 2005 for the

Henry Kravis Henry R. Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.Marie-Josée Drouin. Estimated price was US$25 million. Previously, it had not been seen by the public since 1970. In 2002, a Matisse sculpture, ''Reclining Nude I (Dawn),'' sold for US$9.2 million, a record for a sculpture by the artist. Matisse's daughter Marguerite often aided Matisse scholars with insights about his working methods and his works. She died in 1982 while compiling a catalogue of her father's work. Matisse's son Pierre Matisse (1900–1989) opened a modern art gallery in New York City during the 1930s. The Pierre Matisse Gallery, which was active from 1931 until 1989, represented and exhibited many European artists and a few Americans and Canadians in New York often for the first time. He exhibited Joan Miró, Marc Chagall,

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo, ...

, Jean Dubuffet,

Yves Tanguy Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 – January 15, 1955), known as just Yves Tanguy (, ), was a French surrealist painter. Biography Tanguy, the son of a retired navy captain, was born January 5, 1900, at the Ministry of Naval Affa ...

, Le Corbusier, Paul Delvaux, Wifredo Lam,

Jean-Paul Riopelle Jean-Paul Riopelle, (October 7, 1923 – March 12, 2002) was a Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec. He had one of the longest and most important international careers of the sixteen signatories of the ''Refus Global'', the 1948 manif ...

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...

, Leonora Carrington,

Zao Wou Ki Zao Wou-Ki (; 1 February 1920 – 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Zao Wou-Ki graduated from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under Fang Ganmin and Wu ...

, Sam Francis, and Simon Hantaï, sculptors Theodore Roszak, Raymond Mason, and Reg Butler, and several other important artists, including the work of Henri Matisse. Henri Matisse's grandson

Paul Matisse Paul Matisse (born 1933) is an artist and inventor known for his public art installations, many of which are interactive and produce sound. Matisse also invented the Kalliroscope. Early life and education Paul Matisse is the son of New York g ...

is an artist and inventor living in Massachusetts. Matisse's great-granddaughter Sophie Matisse is active as an artist. Les Heritiers Matisse functions as his official Estate. The U.S. copyright representative for Les Heritiers Matisse is the

Artists Rights Society Artists Rights Society (ARS) is a copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States. Founded in 1987, ARS is a member of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers and as such repre ...

. The Musée Matisse in Nice, a municipal museum, has one of the world's largest collections of Matisse's works, tracing his artistic beginnings and his evolution through to his last works. The museum, which opened in 1963, is located in the Villa des Arènes, a seventeenth-century

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...

in the neighbourhood of Cimiez.

Nazi-looted art

Numerous artworks by Matisse were seized by the Nazis or looted from Jewish collectors or changed hands in forced sales during the Nazi years. In the past twenty years, several artworks by Matisse have been restituted to the heirs of their pre-Third Reich owners, including '' Le Mur Rose'', from France's Pompidou Museum to the heirs of Henry Fuld, "''Femme Assise",'' discovered in the stash of Hildebrand Gurlitt's son in Munich, ''La vallée de la Stour,'' which had belonged to ''Anna Jaffé,'' found in the La Chaux-de-Fonds Museum and many others. The German Lost Art Foundation lists 38 artworks by Matisse in the Lost Art Internet Database.

Recent exhibitions

''Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs'' was exhibited at London's Tate Modern, from April to September 2014. The show was the largest and most extensive of the cut-outs ever mounted, including approximately 100 paper maquettes—borrowed from international public and private collections—as well as a selection of related drawings, prints, illustrated books, stained glass, and textiles. In total, the retrospective featured 130 works encompassing his practice from 1937 to 1954. The Tate Modern show was the first in its history to attract more than half a million people. The show then traveled to New York's

, where it was on display through 10 February 2015. The newly conserved cut-out, ''The Swimming Pool'', which had been off view for more than 20 years prior, returned to the galleries as the centerpiece of the exhibition.

Partial list of works

* '' Woman Reading'' (1894),

Paris * '' Le Mur Rose'' (1898), Musée National d'Art Moderne * ''Canal du Midi'' (1898), Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum * '' Notre-Dame, une fin d'après-midi'' (1902),

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park-Front Park System, Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily clos ...

* '' Luxe, Calme, et Volupté'' (1904), Musée National d'Art Moderne * ''

Green Stripe ''The Green Stripe'' (''La Raie Verte''), also known as ''Portrait of Madame Matisse. The Green Line'', is a portrait by Henri Matisse of his wife, Amélie Noellie Matisse-Parayre. It is an oil painting on canvas, completed autumn or winter 1905. ...

'' (1905) * '' The Open Window'' (1905) * '' Woman with a Hat'' (1905) * '' Les toits de Collioure'' (1905) * '' Landscape at Collioure'' (1905) * ''

'' (1906) * '' The Young Sailor II'' (1906) * ''

'' (1906) * '' Madras Rouge'' (1907) * '' Blue Nude'' (1907),

* '' The Dessert: Harmony in Red (The Red Room)'' (1908) * ''

'' (1908),

, Missouri * '' La Danse'' (1909) * ''

'' (1910) * ''

'' (1911) * ''

'' (1908–1912) * ''

'' (1912) * '' Goldfish'' (1912) * '' Le Rifain assis'' (1912) * ''

'' (1912) * ''

Le rideau jaune ''Le rideau jaune'' (''The Yellow Curtain'') is a painting by Henri Matisse created in 1915. Its size is 57½ × 38⅛" (146 × 97 cm). It is currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Matisse's original title for th ...

(the yellow curtain)'' (1915) * ''The Window'' (1916), Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan * '' The Painter and His Model'' (1916–17) * ''The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay'' (1917),

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egypt ...

* ''La leçon de musique'' (1917) * ''Interior A Nice'' (1920) * ''Festival of Flowers, Nice'' (1923),

* '' Odalisque with Raised Arms'' (1923), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. * '' Yellow Odalisque'' (1926) * '' The Dance II'' (1932), triptych mural (45 ft by 15 ft) in the Barnes Foundation of Philadelphia * '' Robe violette et Anémones'' (1937) * ''

Woman in a Purple Coat ''Woman In A Purple Coat'' or ''The Purple Coat'' is a painting by Henri Matisse from 1937. It depicts Matisse's assistant Lydia Delectorskaya. This painting is an example of Henri Matisse's mature decorative style. Matisse depicts his model an ...

'' (1937) * ''Le Rêve de 1940'' ''(the dream of 1940)'' (1940) * '' La Blouse Roumaine'' (1940) * ''Interior with an Etruscan Vase'' (1940),

* '' Le Lanceur De Couteaux'' (1943) * '' Annelies, White Tulips and Anemones'' (1944), Honolulu Museum of Art * '' L'Asie'' (1946) * ''

Deux fillettes, fond jaune et rouge ''Deux fillettes, fond jaune et rouge (Two Girls in a Yellow and Red Interior)'' (1947), oil on canvas, 61 x 49.8 cm (24 x 19 5/8 inches) is a painting by Henri Matisse in the collection of the Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania. A ...

'' (1947) * '' Jazz'' (1947) * '' The Plum Blossoms'' (1948) * Chapelle du Saint-Marie du Rosaire (1948–1951) * '' Beasts of the Sea'' (1950) * '' Facial-maschera'' (1951) * '' The Sorrows of the King'' (1952) * '' Black Leaf on Green Background'' (1952) * '' La Négresse'' (1952) * ''

Blue Nude II The ''Blue Nudes'' is a series of color lithographs by Henri Matisse made from cut-outs depicting nude figures in various positions. Restricted by his physical condition after his surgery for stomach cancer, Matisse began creating art by cutting ...

'' (1952) * '' The Snail'' (1953) * '' Le Bateau'' (1954) This gouache created a minor stir when the MoMA mistakenly displayed it upside-down for 47 days in 1961.

Illustrations

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, Bertrand Guégan (1892–1943); ''L'almanach de Cocagne pour l'an 1920–1922, Dédié aux vrais Gourmands Et aux Francs Buveurs''

Writings

* ''Notes of a Painter'' ("Note d'un peintre"), 1908 * ''Painter's Notes on Drawing'' ("Notes d'un peintre sur son dessin"), July 1939 * '' Jazz'', 1947 * ''Matisse on Art'', collected by Jack D. Flam, 1973, * ''Chatting with Henri Matisse: The Lost 1941 Interview'', Getty Publications, 2013,

Portrayal in media and literature

Film dramatisations * A film called ''Masterpiece'', about the artist and his relationship with Monique Bourgeois, was proposed in 2011.

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 1 January 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), and ''Water'' (2005). ''Earth'' was submitted by India as its official ...

intended to direct with

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy A ...

to play Henri Matisse. * Matisse was played by Yves-Antoine Spoto in the 2011 film ''

Midnight in Paris ''Midnight in Paris'' is a 2011 fantasy comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. Set in Paris, the film follows Gil Pender ( Owen Wilson), a screenwriter, who is forced to confront the shortcomings of his relationship with his materi ...

''. * Matisse was portrayed by

Joss Ackland Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE (born 29 February 1928) is an English retired actor who has appeared in more than 130 film and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Jock De ...

in the 1996

Merchant Ivory A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

production of ''

Surviving Picasso ''Surviving Picasso'' is a 1996 Merchant Ivory film directed by James Ivory and starring Anthony Hopkins as the famous painter Pablo Picasso. It was produced by Ismail Merchant and David L. Wolper. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay was loosely b ...

''. Exhibition on screen * The

's Matisse retrospective was part of the film series "Exhibition on Screen", which broadcasts productions to movie theaters. * The film ''Matisse From MoMA and Tate Modern'' combines high-definition footage of the galleries with commentary from curators, museum administrators and, through narration of words from the past, Matisse himself. "We want to show the exhibition as well as we possibly can to the audience who can’t get there", said director Phil Grabsky. Inspired by a similar "event cinema" produced by the Met, Grabsky started his series to simulate the experience of strolling through an art exhibit. Literature * The Ray Bradbury short story " The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse" contains an allusion to the artist painting an eye on a poker chip for an American man to use as a monocle. * In Michael Ondaatje's ''

Running in the Family ''Running in the Family'' is the seventh studio album by British band Level 42, released in 1987. It features the UK hit singles: "Lessons in Love" (which reached No. 3 in May 1986), "Running in the Family" (No. 6 in February 1987), "To Be wit ...

'', there is a section called 'Don't talk to me about Matisse' * In

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

's '' Tropic of Cancer'' there are multiple pages lionizing the works and importance of "the bright sage" Matisse, his hero. Music * The British composer

Peter Seabourne Peter Seabourne (born 1960) is an English contemporary classical composer based in Lincolnshire, England. Biography Seabourne studied at Clare College, Cambridge with Robin Holloway, and University of York with David Blake. In 1984 he was joi ...

wrote a septet "The Sadness of the King" (2007) inspired by the late paper cut '' La Tristesse du Roi''.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* . . * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Matisse and his Cats

Footage of Henri Matisse in Vence, France working on the New Chapel of Vence

Henri Matisse: Life and Work
500 hi-res images *
Musée Matisse Nice

Gelett Burgess, "The Wild Men of Paris, Matisse, Picasso and Les Fauves", ''Architectural Record'', 1910''Documenting the Gilded Age: New York City Exhibitions at the Turn of the 20th Century''
A

New York Art Resources Consortium The New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC) consists of the research libraries of three leading art museums in New York City: The Brooklyn Museum, The Frick Collection, and The Museum of Modern Art. With funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundati ...

project. Matisse exhibition catalog, and photoarchive file of ''Young Sailor II''. *
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matisse, Henri 1869 births 1954 deaths 19th-century French painters 19th-century French sculptors 19th-century French male artists 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists 20th-century French sculptors Académie Julian alumni Fauvism French atheists French male painters French male sculptors French printmakers Henri Modern painters Orientalist painters People from Le Cateau-Cambrésis Post-impressionist painters School of Paris