Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse

Henry Matisse (1869-1954) is one of the most important painters of the 20th century. With his mastery of using colors, he is considered one of the greatest artists of modern art, along with Kandinsky and Picasso.

Henri Matisse's Art Style

During this period, Matisse visited the Brittany region of France with his neighbor Emile Wery, who was also a painter. On his return from Brittany, where he had previously inspired pioneering artists, Matisse became interested in pure prismatic colours. His discovery of the Impressionists at the Musée du Luxembourg in the year 1900 was also an important turning point for his artistic life. In the period 1900-1904, Cezanne had a definite influence on Mattisse. Matisse was also participating in exhibitions at this time; After painting at the Salon d'Automne (Autumn Hall) in 1903, he held his first solo exhibition in Vollard's gallery in 1904. Opening an exhibition in Vollard's gallery, which embraced Cezanne, Van Gogh, Picasso and many other artists, who are considered to be the pioneers of modern art, before they were known, must have aroused the interest of a limited but pioneering art environment.

Derain participated in the 1905 Paris Autumn Salon exhibition with Vlaminck and Marquet. The parallel work of this group of artists caused a strong public reaction, and critic Louis Vauxcelles in an article called them Fauves (Savages) because of their reckless color choices. Accepting this definition and calling themselves Fauvists, the artists used color as the basic element in their paintings and aimed to benefit from the expressive power of pure color. Matisse, and especially his painting The Woman in the Hat, was the target of criticism. This painting, which attracted the reaction of the public and conservative art circles, was bought by the Steins (Michael), who was interested in the avant-garde art of the period.

Henri Matisse's Works, Paintings

The Woman in the Hat painting (La femme au chapeau) is an important painting of the painter. The painting depicts Matisse's wife, Amelie. Painted in 1905 and exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in the autumn of the same year, along with the works of André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and several artists known as "Fauves".