Matisse, Henri

About the Artist

Henri Matisse, French, (1869-1954), was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but principally a painter noted for his use of color and his fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship. His painting is characterized by flat shapes and controlled lines, with expression dominant over detail.

In Paris he studied at the AcadÈmie Julian as a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau and was also greatly influenced by Japanese art and the the post-Impressionists Cèzanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Signac.

Matisse drew and painted from nature. He made colour a crucial element of his paintings from the first and as his career progressed his fondness for bright and expressive colour intensified. His most frequent subjects were women and still lifes. [DES-4/07]