Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a master draughtsman, engraver, sculptor and painter, and he is known above all for his imaginative use of colors in painting and his original technique. At first he was labeled a Fauvist, but later he gained fame as a representative of the classical direction of French painting. Along with Picasso, he is considered the greatest artist of the 20th century.

He finished studying law, but started painting during the period when he suffered from appendicitis and found a kind of “paradise” in painting. In 1891, he returned to Paris as a painting student and became fascinated by the works of the post-impressionists, especially Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Signac. and also over Japanese art.

After flirting with Impressionism in his early years, he later decided on a different path and became a leading representative of Fauvist painting.
Henri Matisse is a master of the expressive language of color and drawing. His oeuvre, which spans more than half a century, earned him recognition as a leading figure in contemporary art.

Matisse died of cardiac arrest at the age of 84 on November 3, 1954. He is buried at the Monastère Notre Dame de Cimiez cemetery in the Cimiez neighborhood of Nice.