Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse, one of the most famous French artists in the world. A child of the North, he perhaps inherited his taste for shapes and colors from his family, a lineage of weavers. At twenty, he discovered his vocation and the pleasure of painting. He decided not to become a notary and chose to take drawing classes instead. Encouraged by his teachers, he visited the Louvre and began his research. He struggled, experimented, and was even refused entry to the École des Beaux-Arts... But the artist persisted. He was right. Matisse would become the leader of "Fauvism," an art movement that, along with Derain and Pissarro, emphasized the use of colors over drawing—quite the scandal! From Nice to New York, from Paris to Papeete, Matisse explored distant horizons and worked with new colors and techniques until the end of his days. Weakened and bedridden, he invented "cut-outs," which his assistants placed where the artist desired.