Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse (born December 31, 1869, Le Cateau, Picardy, France—died November 3, 1954, Nice), artist often regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century.

He was the leader of the Fauvist movement about 1900, and he pursued the expressiveness of colour throughout his career. His subjects were largely domestic or figurative, and a distinct Mediterranean verve presides in the treatment. Matisse was born the son of a middle-class family, he studied and began to practice law. In 1890, however, while recovering slowly from an attack of appendicitis, he became intrigued by the practice of painting. In 1891, Matisse moved to Paris for artistic training. He took instruction from famous, older artists at well-known schools such as the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts. Matisse began to show his work in large group exhibitions in Paris in the mid-1890s, including the traditional Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and his work received some favorable attention. In 1897 he took his first major step toward stylistic liberation and created a minor scandal at the Salon with The Dinner Table, in which he combined a Pierre-Auguste Renoir kind of luminosity with a firmly classical composition in deep red and green. By the turn of the 20th century, Matisse had come under the more progressive influence of Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, who painted in a “Pointillist” style with small dots of color rather than full brushstrokes. He stopped exhibiting at the official Salon and began submitting his art to the more progressive Salon des Indépendants in 1901.

Matisse had a major creative breakthrough in 1904 and 1905. After finding his own style, Matisse enjoyed a greater degree of success. He was able to travel to Italy, Germany, Spain and North Africa for inspiration. He bought a large studio in a suburb of Paris and signed a contract with the prestigious art dealers of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris.

After surgery in 1941, Matisse was often bedridden; however, he continued to work from a bed in his studio. When necessary, he would draw with a pencil or charcoal attached to the end of a long pole that enabled him to reach the paper or canvas.

Matisse died on November 3, 1954, at the age of 84, in Nice.

Though he is better known as a painter and sculptor, Matisse became an avid printmaker in 1906. He was especially involved in the process of lithography, a medium which led to black and white illustrations for books and over 100 original lithographs at the Mourlot studio.