Matisse's vast print œuvre are with few exception in black and white. Known as the centuries greatest colourist, Matisse nevertheless established his feel for colour via line. It is not possible to understand the full implications of colour in Matisse without an adequate grasp of his drawing and print-making.

He believed that the relationship between painting and drawing was that of the modification of colour areas through drawing. His graphics contain, in addition to the quality and sensitivity o line, light and value differences which quite clearly correspond to colour.

The relative size of undivided white space dictates the intensity of light in a graphic work the same way the quality of colour derives from the quantity applied in a painting. The varying intensity of the white support created by line in his graphics is the rock on which Matisse's reputation as a colourist rests.

Matisse said that the artist who dies represented by his work has never finished living. he remains a beacon and an inspiration to us all.

This exhibition was in association with Theo Waddington Galleries, London.

The exhibition was opened by Edmund Capon, AM, Director of the Art Gallery of NSW.