Scribd
Upload
22 views3 pages

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a prominent French artist known for his innovative use of color and fluid draughtsmanship, playing a key role in the development of modern art alongside Picasso and Duchamp. His later works, particularly the cut-outs created using paper and gouache, showcased a unique artistic process involving cutting, pinning, and tracing to form complex compositions. Matisse's influence on 20th-century art remains significant, with his reputation continuing to grow posthumously.

Uploaded by

yogitha.netke
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
22 views3 pages

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a prominent French artist known for his innovative use of color and fluid draughtsmanship, playing a key role in the development of modern art alongside Picasso and Duchamp. His later works, particularly the cut-outs created using paper and gouache, showcased a unique artistic process involving cutting, pinning, and tracing to form complex compositions. Matisse's influence on 20th-century art remains significant, with his reputation continuing to grow posthumously.

Uploaded by

yogitha.netke
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

HENRI MATISSE & MODERNISM

Henri Matisse (31 December 1869 - 3 November 1954), one of the undisputed masters of
20th century art, was a French artist, known for 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 Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, as one of
the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the
opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting and
sculpture. Although he was initially labeled a Fauve (wild beast), by the 1920s he was
increasingly hailed as an upholder of the classical tradition in French painting. 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.

Henri Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord, France. He grew up in Bohain-en-


Vermandois, Picardy, France, where his parents owned a flower business; he was their first
son. 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. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to
become an artist, deeply disappointing his father. In 1891, he returned to Paris to study art at
the Académie Julian and became a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave
Moreau. Initially he painted still-lives 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, as well as by
modern artists such as Edouard Manet, and by Japanese art. Chardin was one of Matisse's
most admired painters; as an art student he made copies of four Chardin paintings in the
Louvre.

In 1947 he published Jazz, a limited-edition book containing prints of colorful paper cut
collages, accompanied by his written thoughts. In the 1940s 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.

Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 in 1954. enri Matisse's impact on Fauvism
movement is tremendous. Thanks to the influence he had on painting following the Second
World War, Henri Matisse's reputation is higher than it has ever been before. Matisse had a
great impact on future movements, and works, produced by artists in the 20th century.
TECHNIQUES AND PROCESS

THE CUT-OUTS: During the last decade of his life Henri Matisse
deployed two simple materials—white paper and gouache—to create works of wide-ranging
color and complexity. An unorthodox implement, a pair of scissors, was the tool Matisse used
to transform paint and paper into a world of plants, animals, figures, and shapes.

PAINTING THE PAPER: The color on Matisse’s cut-outs is


produced using gouache—a water-based, opaque, quick-drying, matte paint that consists of
pigment, binder, and often a white pigment or filler to increase opacity. Matisse purchased a
wide range of colors at supply houses in both Paris and Nice, choosing tubes based on color
and freshness. Studio assistants cut rectangular sheets of paper from large rolls. Gouache,
thinned with water, was applied to the paper and then weighted until dry. Some sheets had a
more dense application of gouache and some more visibly retained the brushstrokes

CUTTING: When Matisse was working on a specific project, he


would ask for an assortment of painted paper sheets to be placed on the studio floor. He
would choose a particular sheet and then cut a shape, letting the remainder of the sheet fall to
the floor. For larger forms a studio assistant would assist in guiding the paper to facilitate a
smooth and continuous cut. Although Matisse was filmed using large scissors, close
examination of the existing cut-outs shows that he must have used a variety of sizes. Some
forms, even very large ones, were cut from one sheet of paper. Others, particularly the stars
that appear in many works, were cut from many smaller shapes, which were assembled to
create the final desired form. In some cases the multiple pieces narrowly overlap; in others
large cut forms were overlaid with yet another cut form. The outline of the form was the
ultimate goal of the artist, not the layered structure.
PINNING: Matisse used pins (probably sewing pins), thumb tacks, and
thin nails to secure the cut forms; for small formats the artist would work on a board while
sitting in a chair or in bed. As compositions grew in size the walls of the studio became the
supports for the cut-outs. Studio assistants would pin cut forms to the wall with a hammer,
following the directions of the artist. This method allowed for quick and easy attachment;
positions could be altered and refashioned easily. The numerous pinholes that remain in the
cut-outs attest to these initial mountings and repositionings.

TRACING:It was often necessary to remove a cut-out from the studio


wall, either when Matisse needed wall space for a new composition or when works were to
be mounted. In order to have an accurate and permanent record of the placement of each cut
form, a tracing was made. When there were overlapping forms, each form was numbered on
the reverse.

MOUNTING:Until 1950–51 Matisse and his studio assistants


mounted cut-outs in the studio, as the works were modest in their dimensions. When works
were sold prior to this date, they were mounted with a technique called "spot gluing." The cut
forms were adhered to the underlying paper with small dabs of glue. The technique allowed
for the works to be framed and transported while retaining the three-dimensional liveliness
they had when pinned to a board or the wall.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
Credits-https://www.henrimatisse.org
https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2014/matisse/the-cut-outs.html

You might also like