AN ARTIST'S VIEW: HENRI MATISSE: THE CUT-OUTS

My travels recently took me to New York City, and at the top of my "must-see" list was the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs. The exhibition has been extended to February 10, 2015.

Installation view of Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 12, 2014-February 8, 2015). Photo by Jonathan Muzikar. © 2014 The Museum of Modern Art

I have always admired the art of Matisse; indeed, his passion for color and form and remarkably diverse talent has been a driving influence for my artwork.  Over the past several years there has been a serendipitous convergence of my footsteps weaving throughout the artful life of Matisse. 

The missing piece to the magnificent puzzle of the Matisse oeuvre has been his famous cut-outs. I have never before experienced such a vast collection on view and found the exhibition at MOMA to be a most extensive presentation that includes approximately 100 cut-outs, borrowed from public and private collections around the globe. Also included is a selection of related drawings, illustrated books, stained glass and textiles.

First described as gouaches découpées, Matisse introduced the art form in the mid-1930's, with illustrated books and periodicals in the form of a maquette, created by using scissors and hand-painted gouache paper. The organic and geometric shapes were then arranged into energetic compositions and became strategy for more permanent works of art.  This was a genius process that allowed Matisse to experiment with the play of color while changing forms and concepts. 

Matisse at Villa le Rêve, Vence, c. 1946-47. La Biennale di Venezia – Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee. Photo by Interfoto

The maquette cut-outs evolved into such art forms as a stage curtain design for the ballet Rouge et Noir and multiple covers for periodicals such as Verve and Jazz.

Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954). Two Dancers (Deux danseurs), 1937-38. Stage curtain design for the ballet Rouge et Noir. Gouache on       paper, cut and pasted, notebook papers, pencil, and thumbtacks. 31 9/16 x 25 3/8” (80.2 x 64.5 cm). Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de

de création industrielle, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1991. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The progression from maquette to final art form and from experimentation to permanence is the thrust of this exhibition.  The viewer travels through the artist's development of composition and ultimately environmental spaces created with his cut-out designs.  A superlative example is The Swimming Pool (1952) that was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art in 1975. The only cut-out composed for a specific room, the artist's dining room in his apartment located in Nice, France, The Swimming Pool has undergone a multiyear conservation effort.  Newly conserved, the original color balance, height and spatial configuration has been restored and The Swimming Pool is the centerpiece of this exhibition.  

Installation view of The Swimming Pool (1952) in the exhibition Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 12, 2014-February 8, 2015). Photo by Jonathan Muzikar. © 2014 The Museum of Modern Art

In his final years, Matisse embraced what would be regarded as his crowning achievement, the decorative scheme for the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence.  Located in Vence, France, the Dominican Chapel of the Rosary was a multi-year project that encompassed all stained glass windows and every decorative aspect of the chapel, including the chasubles.  It is this vision of Matisse that continues to live during each Sunday service in Vence. 

Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954). Nuit de Noël. 1952. Maquette for stained-glass window. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, mounted on board. 10’7″ x 53 1/2″ (322.8 x 135.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Time Inc. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954). Maquette for Red Chasuble (front). late 1950-52. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted. 52 1/2 x 78 1/8″ (133.4 x 198.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Due to failing health, Matisse abandoned painting at the easel– yet he continued to create form in a large scale, pushing abstraction, the organic and the human form.  His intense focus on the human form, along with a reduced palette gave way to Blue Nudes.  The four Blue Nudes are on view in the exhibition, giving the viewer a rare opportunity to observe all four together. In these works, Matisse chose to open the female figure and separate anatomical segments with negative space, allowing the white mount to further define the contours of the figure.

Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954). Blue Nude II (Nu bleu II), spring 1952. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on white paper, mounted on canvas. 45 ¾ x 35” (116.2 x 88.9 cm). Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Purchase, 1984. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York


In his final years, Matisse worked in a progressively vast scale, incorporating organic and geometric repetition. During this period, Matisse also continued with the abstract in his works that interpreted the light and landscape of the South Pacific, i.e. Memory of Oceania (below).  

Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954). Memory of Oceania (Souvenir d’Océanie), summer 1952–early 1953. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, and charcoal on paper, mounted on canvas. 112 x 112 7/8” (284.4 x 286.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mrs Simon Guggenheim Fund, 1968. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

As the brilliant cut-outs are the final chapter in the life of Matisse, the exhibition allows the viewer to come full circle and conclude that Matisse is truly the master of color, shape. and form. 

More information about Henri Matisse: The Cut-outs, visit Museum of Modern Art                                                          

Henri Matisse: The Cutouts is organized by The Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with Tate Modern, London.

Organized at MoMA by Karl Buchberg, Senior Conservator, and Jodi Hauptman, Senior Curator, with Samantha Friedman, Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints.

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs.

Major support for the MoMA presentation is provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, and Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis.

Additional funding is provided by Dian Woodner, The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, and the MoMA Annual Exhibition Fund.

Park Hyatt New York is the hotel sponsor of Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs.

Media sponsorship is provided by theguardian.com.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.