Matisse

Matisse

• Henri Matisse, 1869-1954: Master of Colour (Basic Art)

<div class="margin-bottom" id="description_text_headlines"> <div> <strong>A color harmony that is analogous to a musical composition</strong></div> <div>  </div> </div> <div class="description_text"> <div class="margin-bottom" id="description_text"> Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is known not only as one of the most important French painters of the 20th century but also as co-founder and leading exponent of Fauvism. His work reflects an ongoing quest for the expressive power of pure, brilliant colors and simple forms; as a result, the realistic presentation of nature often retires to a secondary position.<br /> <br /> For Matisse, color did not serve as a tool for the expression of subjective feelings, but rather became the equivalent of light itself: it functioned as a pure medium in the creation of an autonomous pictorial space: "Out of my fruitful work with discovered tones there must emerge a vital color harmony, a harmony that is analogous to a musical composition."<br /> <br /> As a creative artist, Matisse was not only a painter, but also experimented with other materials: he produced glass windows and theatre designs and created significant sculptures in bronze, ceramic and clay. In old age, confined to a wheelchair, he created collages with coloured paper, glue, and scissors: his famed gouache cut-outs.</div> <div class="margin-bottom">  </div> <div class="margin-bottom" id="series_text" style="display: block;"> <strong>About the Series:</strong><br /> Each book in TASCHEN€s Basic Art series features:<ul> <li>a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance</li> <li>a concise biography</li> <li>approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions</li> </ul> </div> </div>