Henri Matisse in 10 Paintings

Henri Matisse was born in a small town, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, in northern France. His father owned a shop and his mother painted ceramics. His father hoped that Henri would become a lawyer, but he never imagined that his son would go on to become the founder of a revolutionary new painting movement – Fauvism. Matisse actually studied law at the Sorbonne and even worked as a lawyer for a while, but his passion for drawing soon took over. One day, while Matisse was in the hospital, his mother gave him paints. That sparked his interest in art. From then on, Matisse dedicated himself to becoming an artist.

1. The Dinner Table, 1897

Going against his parents’ wishes, he returned to Paris to study art. At the beginning of his career, he studied under several renowned artists, including William Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau. Like many aspiring artists at the time, Matisse visited the Louvre and copied the works of old masters, paying special attention to still-life paintings, which would later influence his own work.

With new trends emerging one after another, the late 19th century in France was a time of great artistic innovation. Matisse met John Russell, an Australian Impressionist, who influenced his style and introduced him to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. This exposure to new ideas and techniques helped shape Matisse’s unique artistic vision.

The Dining Table was created after meeting Russell. The painting shows a table filled with fruits and glassware and a maid holding flowers. This is an early work by Matisse and the colors are still contrasting between light and dark. The influence of Impressionism is evident. The shadows cast by the objects are not completely black, and the highlights on the white tablecloth and dishes have colored edges.

Matisse realized that the academic style of Bouguereau and Moreau had become outdated, and after becoming familiar with the works of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, he tried to develop his own unique artistic language.

2. Luxury, Serenity, and Pleasure, 1904

Gradually, Matisse’s paintings became more intense and vibrant while a new chapter of his life began. He fell in love and married Amélie Noellie Parayre. She was so supportive of him that she even opened a hat shop in Paris to make money for the family. They had two sons and also raised Matisse’s daughter from a previous relationship, Marguerite. The family was often featured in his works.

Continuing his artistic journey, Matisse met the Neo-Impressionist artists, including Paul Signac. Together, they spent the summer in the south of France, where Matisse was inspired by Signac’s technique of Pointillism. This technique involves using small dots of color to create a whole picture in the viewer’s mind.

Luxury, Serenity, and Pleasure is created in this style. You can see Matisse’s love for color coming to life. Simplified images of people, trees, and other objects are placed in a vibrant landscape. In his Fauvist works, Matisse also simplified everything he depicted, whether it was a portrait or still life.

3. Woman with a Hat, 1905

Henri Matisse spent the summer of 1905 in Collioure with André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck. The colors of the Mediterranean Sea captivated and inspired him. Together with Derain, Matisse liberated color from its traditional descriptive role, making it the main focus of their paintings. Through this gesture, Fauvism was born.

At the Autumn Salon, Matisse presented a portrait of Madame Matisse. The painting is a kaleidoscope of colors: greens, yellows, blues, oranges, and purples. The idea that shadows and light can be painted with any color was already introduced by the Impressionists. However, Matisse’s use of color was daringly bright and bold, moving away from Pointillism

Critics and the general public were surprised by Matisse’s Woman in a Hat, as well as works by Derain and Vlaminck. They named them “wild beasts” or “les fauves”. However, Gertrude Stein, an American writer and art collector, noticed Matisse. Having a keen eye on avant-garde painting, Gertrude Stein together with her brother Leo bought Woman with a Hat.

4. The Joy of Life, 1905–1906

So, Matisse discovered Fauvism and color for himself and the world. He became infamous with his new painting, The Joy of Life, which was shocking. It had garish colors and distorted figures that defied the laws of anatomy.

On the one hand, the painting has some similarities to the painting Luxury, Serenity, and Pleasure. However, on the other hand, it is technically painted with flat planes of color. It depicts a group of people dancing, which subsequently formed the famous Dance, and it contains references to Music (see below).

5. Music, 1910

It so happened that Matisse’s work was a success among collectors outside of France. Therefore, we can say that he fell under the patronage of the Russian collector, Sergei Shchukin. Shchukin recognized Matisse’s revolutionary spirit and talent and commissioned him to create paired panels of Dance and Music for his mansion in Moscow.

Music was made in the same colors as Dance: red, green, and blue. The figures of musicians playing music can be associated with notes on a music sheet. Harmony was achieved through the use of pure, flat planes of color, horizontal lines, and shapes, as well as composition. Once again, distorted anatomy, lack of details, simplified faces, and large color spots – this was a slap in the face for society.

Interestingly, after seeing Dance and Music at the Autumn Salon of 1910 in Paris, Shchukin refused to purchase them. If Parisian society was not prepared for such artwork, what could be said about Moscow society? However, Shchukin later recognized his mistake and bought both works.

6. The Family of the Artist, 1911

Matisse paid close attention to individual colors and created works that were studies of red and pink. The Family of the Artist, for example, is dominated by red, as well as lemon yellow, and black. This painting is part of a group known as “symphonic interiors”. The members of Matisse’s family are truly integrated into the interior of the room, like a carpet, fireplace, or chessboard. Each object and person depicted takes its place in the composition, balancing the overall picture like in music, each instrument plays a part in a symphony, contributing to the overall harmony of sound.

7. Still Life after Jan Davidsz de Heem’s La Desserte, 1915

Having contributed to the development of Fauvism, Matisse continued to experiment in his work, being inspired by the new trends in art of the time. The artist had a particular love for still lifes, which he had absorbed while sketching in the Louvre. One of his paintings was an homage to 17th-century Dutch artist Jan Davidsz de Heem. A musical instrument, vases, and jugs, as well as a magnificent table, are indeed attributes popular during the Dutch Golden Age. However, how did Matisse present them?

It is important to note that at this time, Cubism, led by Pablo Picasso, had already become a cultural phenomenon. Matisse and Picasso were considered the masters of the avant-garde and closely followed each other’s work. Matisse couldn’t help but enter into dialogue with him, even though their styles differed. The objects in the painting are shown as if seen from different angles, and the influence of Paul Cézanne can be noticed in the simplification of form and use of color accents.

8. Goldfish and Palette, 1914

Matisse often used the image of goldfish in his work, even during the period of the First World War. In this painting, the sparkling vitality and joy, visible in his other depictions of this theme, are replaced by sharp angles and straight lines, and the artist’s use of color is also more subdued, with black, blue, and white dominating. Only the red fish and the bright yellow lemon stand out as a bright spot, seeming to offer a glimmer of hope for a better future.

This was a difficult time for Matisse, as the First World War caused a halt in orders from Russian patrons. The challenging social climate also affected his work, leading to a more somber use of color and empty compositions.

9. Odalisque in Red Trousers, 1924–1925

However, after the war, Matisse’s paintings were once again filled with bright colors. In the 1920s, he created several works depicting odalisques, inspired by the Orient, its secrets and charm, as well as his earlier trips to Morocco. The Orient has always attracted the attention of European artists, such as the master of Neoclassical art Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

In this painting, decorative elements and ornaments, such as flowers on screens, form a background contrasted with the diagonals of the couch. The reclining odalisque is formed through curved lines that rhyme with the flowers. When we look at the painting we may want to absorb its every detail and color.

10. Pink Nude, 1935

In the 1930s, Lydia Delektorskaya played a significant role in Henri Matisse’s life. She was a Russian émigré who came to live with Matisse and his wife as a companion. However, she soon became Matisse’s right-hand woman, assisting him in his work and helping him through creative and personal crises. It was Delektorskaya who inspired Matisse to return to painting after a period of doubt and uncertainty. She became his muse and model.

Pink Nude can be regarded as a perfect example of Matisse’s mature Fauvism. The simplified shapes, bold lines, and decorative blue fabric create a harmonious composition. Matisse’s interest in the human form is evident in this work, as he wrote: “What interests me most is neither still life nor landscape, but the human figure. It is that which best permits me to express my almost religious awe towards human beings.”