Matisse - 1941 – 1954

In the radiant light of his final years, Matisse invents a new language: that of cut forms and pure color. More than 230 paintings, drawings, books and gouache cut-outs trace, between 1941 and 1954, the path of an artist who is both free and in constant motion. The exhibition Matisse. 1941–1954 sheds light on the last years of Henri Matisse’s career, from 1941 to 1954, through over 230 works — paintings, drawings, gouache cut-outs, illustrated books, textiles and stained glass — drawn from the Centre Pompidou collection and major international loans. It reveals the multidisciplinary scope of his practice during this period while assembling an exceptional body of gouache cut-outs. At nearly 80, Matisse reinvents himself with the gouache cut-out, a medium he elevates into an autonomous visual language: liberated and capable of reaching the universal through its simplicity. Suited both to reproduction and to monumental commissions, this technique allows him to fully express the decorative dimension of his art. The exhibition demonstrates how painting remains at the heart of his approach, far from being supplanted by the cut-outs: on the contrary, it unfolds with ever greater space, intensity and color. Among the key ensembles gathered in the presentation are the masterly and final series Interiors of Vence (1947–1948), the album Jazz, the Themes and Variations series as well as the brush-and-ink drawings; the principal elements of the Vence Chapel project; the monumental panels La Gerbe and Acanthes; and, as a culminating highlight, exceptionally brought together, the large figures in gouache cut-outs: The Sorrows of the King, Zulma, The Creole Dancer and the famous Blue Nudes. Conceived as a journey through the painter’s universe, the exhibition recreates the vibrant atmosphere of his studio, in constant metamorphosis. An invitation to discover this flourishing “garden” of Matisse, room after room.

Co-production between the Centre Pompidou and the Grand Palais / RMN
With the participation of the Musée Matisse, Nice
Curatorship

Claudine Grammont — Head of the Graphic Arts Department, Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou

Scenography: Julie Boidin