Henri Mattise
Biography

Henri Matisse is one of the undisputed masters of 20th century art. He was a French artist, known for his use of color and his fluid style.

He started his career studying law and working as a court administrator, first starting to paint in 1889 when he had appendicitis. This gift of art supplied from his mother inspired him to become an artist, returning to Paris in 1891 to study art at the Académie Julian.

In 1905, Matisse and a group of artists now known as the “Fauves”, which translates to “wild Beasts” exhibited together at the Salon d’Automne. The paintings were evocative, with bright emotion driven colors that had no regard for the subject’s natural coloring. Matisse was recognized as a leader of the Fauves, known for his mastery of an expressive language of color and drawing.

With the model Caroline Joblau, he had a daughter, Marguerite, born in 1894. In 1898 he married Amélie Noellie Parayre; the two raised Marguerite together and had two sons, Jean and Pierre. Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 in 1954.

Born: 1869
Died: 1954
Education: Académie Julian, National School of Fine Arts, École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs

Exhibitions

Select Exhibitions

2022
Matisse: The Sinuous Line,BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART BALTIMORE | MARYLAND | USA
Monet to Matisse: Impressionist Masterpieces from the Bemberg Foundation, SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART SAN DIEGO | CALIFORNIA | USA

2021
Matisse Alive, ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY | AUSTRALIA

2020
Picasso & Matisse: Beauty is a Line, RIJKSMUSEUM TWENTHE ENSCHEDE | NETHERLANDS

2019, Matisse/Picasso
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA CANBERRA | AUSTRALIA
Matisse/Odalisque
NORTON SIMON MUSEUM OF ART PASADENA | CALIFORNIA | USA

2018
Yua: Henri Matisse and the Inner Arctic Spirit, THE HEARD MUSEUM PHOENIX | ARIZONA | USA
Henri Matisse: Master of Line, GOW LANGSFORD GALLERY, KITCHENER STREET AUCKLAND | NEW ZEALAND

2017
Matisse – Bonnard, STÄDEL MUSEUM FRANKFURT | GERMANY
Matisse in the Studio, ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS MAYFAIR | LONDON | UK

2016
Modern Masters Between the Wars, HAMMER GALLERIES UPPER EAST SIDE | NEW YORK | US

2015
New Arrivals Matisse Prints & Drawings, BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART BALTIMORE | MARYLAND | USA

2010
Les photographes de Matisse, nouvelles acquisitions, Les photographies de Matisse à Tahiti, Musée Henri Matisse, Nice, France (solo)

2009
Matisse – Rodin, un parcours sans fin, Musée Henri Matisse, Nice, France (solo)
L’objet dans l’œuvre de Matisse, Musée Henri Matisse, Nice, France (solo)

2008
Henri Matisse: Prints and Bronzes from the Etta and Claribel Cone Collection, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC (solo)
2007–2008
Matisse : en pensant à René Char, Musée Henri Matisse, Nice, France (solo)

2007
Matisse – Painter as Sculptor, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (solo)
Henri Matisse – Prints and Bronzes from the Permanent Collection, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC (solo)
Henri Matisse – The Thousand and One Nights, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg, PA (solo)
Picasso & Matisse, Andipa Gallery, London, UK

2006
Picasso Matisse: Prints and Drawings, Andipa gallery, London, UK
La Danza delle Avanguardie, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Italy
Tapestries, Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL
Matisse: A Figurative Femininity, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada (solo)
Stock 06/07/2006, Waddington Galleries, London, UK
Modern and Contemporary Masters, Richard Gray Gallery, New York, NY
French Master Drawings: From Manet and Degas to Matisse and Picasso, Statens museum for kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
Matisse: Jazz, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (solo)

2005
MATISSE &, Statens museum for kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark (solo)
Henri Matisse: Une Seconde Vie, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, LA (solo)
Matisse, His Art and His Textiles: The Fabric of Dreams, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (solo)
Hommage à Matisse, Artiscope, Brussels, Belgium (solo)
Henri Matisse: Prints and Bronzes from the Claribel and Etta Cone Collection, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC (solo)
Masterworks from The Phillips Collection, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

2004
Fauve Painting in the Permanent Collection, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Renoir to Matisse: The Eye of Duncan Phillips, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Matisse, Picasso: Lithographs & Etchings, Catherine Hodgkinson, London, UK
The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (solo)
Henri Matisse, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo)

2003
Henri Matisse, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (solo)
Henri Matisse: Prints and Bronzes, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC (solo)
Old Masters, Impressionists & Moderns: French Masterworks from the Pushkin Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Classic to Modern: French Works on Paper, 1800-1950, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Matisse: Papiers découpés, Sammlung Berggruen, Berlin, Germany (solo)
Voyage into Myth: Gauguin to Matisse, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Masterworks from El Greco to Picasso in The Phillips Collection, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ

2002
Henri Matisse. Mit der Schere zeichnen, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main, Gremany (solo)
Millet to Matisse, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Modigliani & the Artists of Montparnasse, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Gauguin to Matisse: French Masterpieces from Russias Hermitage Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Henri Matisse, Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Bilbao, Spain; Galerie Thomas, Munich, Germany (solo)
From Puvis de Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
Matisse and Belfast, Ulster Museum, Belfast, Ireland (solo)
Henri Matisse/Ellsworth Kelly: dessins de plantes, Centre Pompidou, Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris, France

2001
The Kindness of Friends: A Selection of Gifts of Drawings and Prints, 1919-2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
A Century of Drawing: Works on Paper from Degas to LeWitt, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Matisse: Espíritu y Sentido, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain (solo)
Neo-Impressionism: The Circle of Paul Signac, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Grands maîtres des XIXe et XXe siècles, Galerie Schmit, Paris, France
The Global Guggenheim: Selections from the Extended Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
2000
Master-Prints, Fischer Kunsthandel & Edition, Berlin, Germany
Matisse: The Art of Drawing, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (solo)
Matisse from The Baltimore Museum of Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (solo)
Face to Face: Artists & Their Work, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
Painters in Paris: 1895-1950, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

1999
Matisse and Picasso, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX
The Elise S. Haas Collection – Matisse and Other Modern masters, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art – SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
Do impresionismo ao Fauvismo. Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, CGAC – Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

1998
Recent Acquisitions and New Work, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
Von Matisse bis Dali. Die Kunst zu Sammeln – Das Legat Georges F. Keller, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Au fil du trait : de Matisse à Basquiat – Carré d´art, Musée d´art contemporain de Nîmes, Nîmes, France
The Origins of Modern Art in France – 1880-1939, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Master Drawings of the Twentieth Century, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY
Artists and Subjects: Picasso to Stella, MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

1997
L’última mirada, Museu d´Art Contemporani de Barcelona – MACBA, Barcelona, Spain
Encounters With Modern Art: Works from the Rothschild Family Collections, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art – SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
Etchings of the Twentieth Century, Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Objects of Desire: The Modern Still Life, MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY

1996
Master Classes: What classifies an artist as a Master, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA
Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Manet bis Van Gogh – Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany

1993
Modern Masters and the Figure: Picasso to de Kooning – Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA

1987
The Window in Twentieth-Century Art – Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX

1985
Les vingt ans du Musée à travers sa collection, Musée d´art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

1981
Medio Siglo de Escultura: 1900-1945, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain (solo)

1966
Matisse und seine Freunde – les Fauves – Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

1953
Berggruen et Cie, Paris, France (solo)
Retrospective, The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark (solo)

1951
Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (solo)

1949
Pierre Matisse gallery, New York, NY
Musée National d’ Art Moderne, Paris, France (solo)

1948
Retrospective, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (solo)

1945
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Retrospective, Salon d’ Automne, Paris, France (solo)
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France

1936
Paul Rosenberg Gallery, Paris, France

1931
Retrospective, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, France (solo)
Kunsthalle, Basel, Switzerland
The Museum of Modem Art, New York, NY

1930
Retrospective, Thannhauser Gallery, Berlin, Germany (solo)

1927
Valentine Dudensing Gallery, New York, NY

1924
Retrospective, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark (solo)
Retrospective, Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, France (solo)

1921
Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, France

1920
Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, France

1919
Leicester Galleries, London, UK
Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, France (solo)

1915
Montross Gallery, New York, NY

1914
Gurlitt Gallery, Berlin, Germany

1913
Armory Show, New York, NY
Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, France (solo)

1910
Bernheim-Jeune Gallery, Paris, France (solo)
291 gallery, New York, NY

1908
291 gallery, New York, NY
Salon d’ Automne, Paris, France

1906
Galerie Druet, Paris, France (solo)
Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France

1905
Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France

1903
Salon d’ Automne, Paris, France

1902
Berthe Weill Gallery, Paris, France

1901
Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France

1897
Salon of the Nationale, Paris, France

1896
Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France