Henri Matisse, a central figure of the 20th century, greatly influenced the art of the second half of that century, both figurative and abstract painters. Dr. Orna Liberman brings us the story of his life intertwined with his art, as you have not yet read it anywhere else. How his meetings and travels shaped his art, which flowed both from within him and from without to fulfill hidden desires. The encounters with foreign cultures and landscapes struck waves in him, with motifs that were imprinted in his imagination even earlier, and thus helped him draw the good water from the deep inner well within him.
introduction
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was together with Picasso, his friend/rival, one of the most important pioneers of modern art in Paris and the world at the beginning of the 20th century. His works aroused strong emotions among the public, so much so that when he exhibited his painting “Woman with a Hat” in 1905, visitors to the exhibition tried to tear it with their nails…
Who, then, was the man who caused such a stir in the art world? Henri Matisse was born in the town of Cateau-Cambrésis, where Alexandre DumasHis parents wanted him to study law and become a lawyer, but an appendicitis he suffered at the age of 21 completely changed his career path. While he was lying in bed recovering, he received a paint set as a gift from his mother and, since he had plenty of free time, began to paint.
It was a first brushstroke of love, and in his words: “The moment I held the box of paints for the first time, I realized that this would be my life. I pounced on it like an animal pouncing on particularly desirable prey.” Thus he arrived in Paris in 1891 and lived a humble and studious life. At first, like any painting student, Matisse copied masterpieces, but he soon became bored and began to make bold experiments with the colors he had. Thus began Henri Matisse’s unique journey, from Paris to the light and colorfulness of other regions until he settled in the south.
spy The new exhibition, dedicated to Henri Matisse in ParisDr. Orna Liberman edited her series of articles and added this introduction to them, which unites and connects them. The introduction ends with an article by Zvi Hazanov, which offers a route following Matisse in Paris.
A four-part article
In the first part of the series of articles, Part I: Henri Matisse, Brittany, Corsica, Toulouse, Saint-Tropez, CollioureWe will follow the beginnings of Henri Matisse's career as an artist. He moved to Paris for his student period and his first trip outside of it was to Brittany, accompanied by his neighbor and colleague, the painter Emile-Auguste Verre.
This was the first stage in his development, he said. We will see how his friend Verrey influenced him on this first trip to Belle-Île-en-Mer in Brittany. On a second trip to the same place, he met the painter John Peter Russell and was also influenced by him. In early 1898, Matisse married Amelie Ferrer from Toulouse. The young couple spent part of their honeymoon in Corsica, and we will see how the island's landscapes influenced Matisse's art. Thanks to his wife, Matisse also discovered the south of France. Signac's Saint-Tropez saved him from the gloom of drab Paris. We will see the birth of Fauvism in Collioure, on the border with Spain, and the scandals surrounding it.
In the second part of the article series, Part II: Henri Matisse, Algeria, Spain, Morocco, Nice, we will see how Matisse found sources of inspiration each time in landscapes that suited him. Paris did not do that for him. Matisse's soul thirsted for the discovery of new landscapes, more distant, more exotic, across the sea. And here he was again on the road, his first contact with the East, which he had always loved and to which he had always been drawn. Matisse took that beloved East with him starting in December 1917, when he slowly settled inNice.
In the third part of the series of articles, Part 3: Henri Matisse, Polynesia, we will see how the trip to Polynesia saved Matisse as a man and as an artist. Matisse's mood depended on his art. Henri sank once again into black bitterness, into a deep existential crisis. Nice was no longer new. The sources of inspiration had closed up, ended. How would he renew himself? As always, Matisse would find a solution in an intermittent journey that led him into the unknown. And this time to the other end of the world. We will see how Matisse set out in the footsteps of one of his favorite painters, Paul Gauguin, who forty years earlier, in 1891, had sailed for the first time to Tahiti. French Polynesia, a hundred islands, a pristine lagoon and primeval forests – a promise of paradise, rebirth, there and now.
At the age of sixty, Matisse arrived in Tahiti via New York and found new inspiration. We will see how the paper cutouts, painted with gouache, were born while in Tahiti. Like the island women, who cut out fabric, Matisse cut out cardboard paper. The traditional motifs of the tipepe (fabrics embroidered with cut-out motifs), the vegetation on the ground and in the depths of the lagoon, are found in Matisse's works. We will delve deeper into the Polynesian experience that also provided Matisse with a unique encounter with the world of cinema through the German director Friedrich Murnau.
In the fourth part of the series of articles, Part Four: Henri Matisse, Tahiti Leads to Paper Cutouts, we will see how the Polynesian experience influenced Matisse five years after he returned to France. We will see how the idea for the gouache-painted paper cutouts came to him after he received an invitation from Bert Barnes, a billionaire pharmacist and art collector, for a huge painting to grace the main exhibition hall of the foundation he founded in Merion, a suburb of Philadelphia. We will follow his meeting with a young Russian, Lydia, who would accompany him until the day he died and beyond.
A trip to Paris in the footsteps of Matisse
If you would like to follow the great painter at the beginning of his career, you are welcome to visitParis itinerary following Matisse By Zvi Hazanov.