Henri Matisse and His Cut-Outs

Henri Matisse

Henri Émile Benoît Matisse was a French artist who lived between 1869 and 1954. He started his career as a lawyer, but then began painting when he was recovering from appendicitis. He decided he loved painting so much that he quit law and became a full-time artist. His parents didn’t support this idea, but he followed his passion anyway.

Paintings

Matisse was best known for his paintings. He did still lifes, portraits, and landscapes for much of his life. Some examples are The Green Stripe, The Goldfish, and The Dessert: Harmony in Red. Which paintings are which? Why do you think they have those titles?

Other Works

Matisse also did printmaking, where he carved a shape into a tile and then stamped it onto a paper, as well as painting with ink.

Collages

When Matisse was older, he became sick and had to be in a wheelchair most of the time. This made it difficult for him to make art like he used to. During this time he had assistants who helped him cut shapes from colored paper, and then with their help he was able to arrange the shapes on a large background to make an image. The collage on the right is called “The Snail.” Does that look like a snail to you? Why or why not?

You can make a collage just like Matisse! Try cutting shapes out of construction paper and pasting them to a big white paper. You can even cut shapes out of magazines or newspapers to make it look really original. Or, if you have trouble cutting shapes, you can use stickers or pre-cut shapes. Anything goes! Matisse did a lot of experimenting and so can you!