Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse (Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Nord, 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French artist known for his use of color and his original ideas.

He is mainly known as a painter, but he was also a draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. Matisse was one of the main artists who helped to create modern art early in the 20th century.

"Matisse created brilliantly colored canvases structured by color applied in a variety of brushwork, ranging from thick impasto [thick paint] to flat areas of pure pigment, sometimes accompanied by a sinuous, arabesque-like line. [This was] the first of the avant-garde movements (1905–7), named "Fauvism" by a contemporary art critic, referring to its use of arbitrary combinations of bright colors and energetic brushwork to structure the composition".

Although he was initially called a Fauve (wild beast), he painted many traditional themes. He painted from life, and his work includes many portraits and other figurative subjects.Wattenmaker, Richard J.; Distel, Anne, et al. 1993. Great French paintings from the Barnes Foundation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p272 
His mastery of the expressive language of form and color, in work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art.Magdalena Dabrowski Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Source: Henri Matisse (1869–1954) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art  Retrieved June 30, 2010

Matisse died of a heart attack in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes.

 References 

 Other websites 
 Matisse in Artchive Artchive

Category:1869 births
Category:1954 deaths
Category:French painters
Category:French printmakers
Category:People from Nord