Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954

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Henri Matisse1869 - 1954

• One of the Greatest Painters of the 20th Century

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From Lawyer to Painter

• While studying to become a lawyer, Matisse became
  very ill and had to have an appendectomy.
• While he was recovering, his mother gave him a
  small box of paints to help pass the time.
• He became very interested in painting and gave up
  law to become an artist.

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A Conventional Form of Naturalism

• His earlier paintings show the influence of the
  post-Impressionists Paul Cézanne, Gauguin, Van
  Gogh and Paul Signac but he is struck by Japanese
  art as well.
• The painting is called The Dinner Table is a
  good example of the post-Impressionistic style.

4
Boldness and Color

• His style began to imitate primitive art by
  using bolder colors.
• This portrait of his wife entitled, The Green
  Line, reflects his new style of painting.

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Japanese Art

• This painting is called Japanese Mask.
• The artist uses cut paper to develop his oriental
  style.

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Friendships

• Matisse develops many friendships but one of the
  most interesting is his friendship with Picasso.
• Picasso paints from his imagination while Matisse
  paints from nature as is shown from this picture
  called Tahiti Landscape.

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Oriental Art

• Matisse begins to study oriental art around 1910.
• This picture called Goldfish with Sculpture
  helps us understand his mix of bold colors with
  an oriental theme.

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Lydia Delectorskaya

• Portrait of Lydia Delectorskaya is a painting
  of a woman that Matisse met in 1935.
• Matisse describes her as having come from Siberia
  and having long golden hair, blue eyes, white
  skin, and finely cut features.

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Papiers Découpés (paper cutouts).

• Matisse develops a new artistic style with paper.
• One of his designs included large paper cutouts
  that were used in stained-glass windows in
  churches -like the picture at the bottom of this
  slide that is of cut outs for the window Chapelle
  du Rosaire in Vence.

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• Matisse died on November 3, 1954 in Nice, France,
  from a heart attack.
• Before his death at age 83, he donated 100 of his
  works valued at up to 14,000,000 to his hometown
  of Le Cateau, France.
• Matisse always remembered to follow his mothers
  advice when he began his pursuit of art. She
  told him to not follow the rules of art but to
  listen to his emotions.