1869

HENRI MATISSE (born 1869 - died 1954) needs no introduction as one of the towering geniuses of twentieth century art. All painters working today acknowledge to some degree as enormous debt to Matisse.

Matisse was a painter. draughtsman, sculptor, Print-maker, book illustrator and maker of paper cut-outs, these distinctions, imposed by art historians and academics meant little to Matisse, who simply followed his route and did not differentiate or assign any hierarchy to their importance. He considered his total oeuvre as his expression of self, each work whether it be a painting or etching, representing a piece of himself.

His drawings, rarely conceived as preparatory sketches, but rather as finished works in themselves, were considered by the artist to be the most direct form of communication between the artist and his audience. For Matisse they were the purest means by which to translate sensation and emotion and therefore absolutely vital to his oeuvre.