Today (03/11/2024) marks 70 years since the death of iconic French Modernist artist, Henri Matisse.
Born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis on 31 December 1869, Matisse grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois where his parents owned a floristry business. In 1887, Matisse moved to Paris where he studied law and became a court administrator shortly after the conclusion of his course. It wasn’t until two years later, in 1889, that Matisse started to paint. While recovering from appendicitis, Matisse’s mother delivered art supplies to him to help him pass the time. Matisse quickly fell in love with painting and decided to become an artist, supposedly disappointing his father. Two years later, in 1891, Matisse began studying art at the Académie Julian, where William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau taught him.
British Online Archives, The Graphic, 1869–1932, “Slices of Life: Celebrities at Home–Glimpses at Various Personalities”, 8 Feb. 1930, image 28.
Matisse was well known for being in a group of artists known as “Fauves” who first exhibited together in 1905 at the Salon d'Automne, an art exhibition held annually in Paris. Matisse was regarded as a leader of the group, along with André Derain. Other members included Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, and Maurice de Vlaminck. The group’s artwork gave rise to an art movement called “Fauvism”, which is characterised by strong colours and a simplification and abstraction of the subject matter.
Around the year 1904, Matisse was introduced to Pablo Picasso at the house of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, influential collectors and investors in the art world. Picasso and Matisse became life-long rivals and friends. Stein’s network became crucial to Matisse’s success as an artist, as her friends collected hundreds of both Matisse’s and Picasso’s pieces.
As Matisse grew older, he started to focus on paper collages called gouaches découpés. He described this technique as painting with scissors. Some of Matisse’s most famous works were made using this method, including The Swimming Pool (1952).
On 3 November 1954, Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84. His bold use of colour and his fluid artworks rendered him one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. There “is no more revered figure in the art world to-day”, as a contributor to The Tatler and Bystander wrote of Matisse in 1951.[1] That is as true now as when it was written.
British Online Archives, The Sphere, 1900–1964, “Matisse Designs a Chapel”, 5 Aug. 1950, image 30.
[1] British Online Archives, The Tatler, 1901–1965, “Priscilla in Paris”, 15 Aug. 1951, image 22, available at https://britishonlinearchives.com/documents/26051/15th-august-1951#?#cv=21&xywh=-683%2C0%2C6535%2C3536.