Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse' paintings

Books about Matisse

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Henri Matisse: a biography....

Matisse, Henri (-Émile-Benoît) . (b. Dec. 31, 1869, Le Cateau, Picardy, Fr.--d. Nov. 3, 1954, Nice)

Matisse is often regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century. There is a distinct Mediterranean verve in his paintings. Matisse and Picasso dominate the art of the twentieth century. Matisse was a slow, methodical man, of anxious temperament, who encouraged other artists:  Picasso a bully who inhibited them. Early on in his career Matisse was viewed as a Fauvist (see below), and his celebration of bright colors reached its peak in 1917 when he began to spend time on the French Riviera at Nice and Vence. Here he concentrated on reflecting the sensual color of his surroundings and completed some of his most exciting paintings.

.Matisse initially became famous as the King of the Fauves (fauve is French for wild animal) , an inappropriate name for this gentlemanly intellectual: there was no wildness in him, though there was much passion. He is an awesomely controlled artist, and his spirit, his mind, always had the upper hand over the "beast" of Fauvism.

Matisse's Fauvist years were superseded by an experimental period, as he abandoned three-dimensional effects in favor of dramatically simplified areas of pure color, flat shape, and strong pattern. The intellectual splendor of this dazzlingly beautiful art appealed to the Russian mentality, and many great Matisses are now in Russia. Matisse was a great celebrator, and to many his most characteristic pictures are the wonderful odalisques he painted in Nice (he loved Nice for the sheer quality of its warm, southern light).

In 1941 Matisse was diagnosed as having duodenal cancer and was permanently confined to a wheelchair. It was in this condition that he completed the magnificent Chapel of the Rosary in Vence.

AT last, too weak to stand at an easel, he created his papercuts, colored paper collaged into sometimes vast pictures. He understood how elements worked together, how colors and shapes could come to life most startlingly when set in context: everything of Matisse's works together superbly.

SOME MATISSE PRINTS

Put some southern light on your wall...

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Books about Henri Matisse

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