Henri Matisse

Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1869 – Nice, 1954

Henri Matisse was born on December 31, 1869, in a small town in northern France, Le Cateau-Cambrésis. Initially, Matisse had no intention of becoming an artist, he studied law in Paris and worked as an administrator in a law office. However, in 1889 he abandoned it to discover painting and decided to dedicate himself to art. In 1891, Matisse moved to Paris to formally study art at the Académie Julian and later at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he was a student of Gustave Moreau and in 1895 became a member of his studio. During his early years, he experimented with a variety of styles and techniques, including influences from Impressionism and Pointillism. But it was in 1905, during an exhibition at the “Salon d’Automne,” where Matisse and a group of artists, including André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck, became known as the “Fauves” due to their bold use of color, simplified forms, and the influence of African structures. Throughout his career, Matisse continued to evolve and explore new techniques and media. In the 1910s, he moved towards a more structured and geometric style, influenced in part by Cubism. During the 1920s, Matisse lived in Nice, where his paintings became more serene and decorative, reflecting the light and color of the Mediterranean. In the 1940s, Matisse began experimenting with a technique that would become his signature: the cut-out, or “papiers découpés.” This method, which he called “drawing with scissors,” allowed him to create vibrant and dynamic compositions despite his declining health. Notable works from this period include “La Tristesse du Roi” (1952) and “The Snail” (1953). Finally, Henri Matisse died on November 3, 1954, in Nice, France, at the age of 84.