HENRI MATISSE: 1941-1954
AT GRAND PALAIS PARIS
March 24, 2026- July 26,
2026
“Matisse, 1941 — 1954” is
an exhibition of unparalleled scale that highlights the artist’s final creative
years: a moment of synthesis, radicalness and formal invention. It brings
together more than 300 works that testify to Matisse’s burst of unprecedented
creativity during this particularly fertile period. At the age of nearly 80, he
reinvented himself with gouache cut-outs through which he entirely renewed his
visual vocabulary and gave a monumental scope to his art. The exhibition takes
visitors into the heart of Matisse’s large studio, where paintings, series of
drawings, illustrated books, gouache cut-outs, textiles and even stained-glass
windows reveal the different facets of this final moment of grace.
With over 300 works, many
of which are shown for the first time in France, the exhibition is a unique
opportunity to discover rarely seen ensembles. The already rich collection of
Centre Pompidou is complemented by exceptional loans from private collections
and national and international institutions such as the Hammer Museum, MoMA,
the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Barnes Foundation and Fondation
Beyeler.
The exhibition brings
together major ensembles from this period, including the masterful and final
series of paintings titled Intérieurs de Vence (Vence Interiors) from
1946-1948, the Jazz album and its maquettes, series of drawings from Thèmes et
Variations (Themes and Variations), brush and ink drawings, key works from the
Vence chapel, and the monumental cut-outs of La Gerbe (The Sheaf), Acanthes
(Acanthus), L’Escargot (The Snail) and Mémoire d’Océanie (Memory of Oceania).
It also features large figures in gouache cut-outs, including works such as La
Tristesse du roi (The Sorrow of the King), Zulma, Danseuse créole (Creole
Dancer) and the Nus Bleus (Blue Nudes), which are rarely shown together.
“Matisse 1941 – 1954”
builds on other major monographs dedicated to the artist by Centre Pompidou*,
and especially echoes the 1993 exhibition titled “Matisse 1904 – 1917”. Unlike
“Henri Matisse: the Cut-Outs” (presented at Tate Modern and MoMA, 2014), which
focused exclusively on gouache cut-outs, it reveals the multidisciplinary
dimension of his practice during this period. Never before had Matisse been so
prolific in the variety of techniques and media he used, as demonstrated by the
paintings, gouache cut-outs, drawings, illustrated books, textiles and
stained-glass works that are exceptionally shown together in this exhibition.
This final creative
period was characterised by an increasing symbiosis between the work and the
studio space. Honed on the walls of his Régina apartment, the works were
inherently mobile and contributed to the dynamic vegetalisation of the spatial
environment. The exhibition seeks to replicate this constantly evolving setting
and invites visitors into Matisse’s “garden” through a space that grows and
expands from room to room. It also evokes the context of the war and post-war
period, when Henri Matisse was hailed as a symbol of freedom in both France and
the United States.
* “Matisse 1904 – 1917”
in 1993, "Matisse. Paires et séries” (Pairs and Series) in 2012 and
"Matisse. Comme un roman” (Like a novel) in 2021.
PC: Information Came From
Centre Pompidou Press Office
A ROOM-BY-ROOM GUIDE TO
THE EXHIBITION
A SECOND LIFE
In 1941, having undergone
a serious operation that nearly cost him his life, Henri Matisse felt like he
was entering a ‘second life’. This would be a time of renewed creativity for
him right up until his death in 1954. These later years were marked by quiet
fulfilment – a sense of completeness that encompassed all forms of artistic
expression, which Matisse approached with a great feeling of synthesis. Never
before had he been so prolific in the variety of techniques and media he used.
The exhibition features paintings, drawings, gouache cut-outs, illustrated
books, textiles and stained-glass windows, all of which reflect this new-found
energy. At nearly 80 years old, Henri Matisse reinvented himself through the
medium of gouache cut outs, which proved to be an autonomous and sovereign
visual language in its ability to attain the universal through its simplicity.
The technique was well-suited both to reproduction and the requirements of
monumental commissions, and allowed him to express the decorative and architectural
aspects of his art to the full.
FOCUS: THE DIFFERENT
STAGES OF A PAINTING
For his 1945 exhibition
at the Galerie Maeght, Matisse displayed six of his paintings which had been
created during the war. Each was surrounded by photographs documenting the
different stages in its creation. The artist's bold presentation offered a
glimpse into the time it took to complete each work, so as to refute any notion
of ease that might be suggested by the radical simplification of his more
recent paintings. La Blouse Roumaine was displayed alongside ten transitional
stages, which were no longer visible as they were erased during the course of
its creation. Rather than focusing on the progress towards a finished work,
this approach highlighted the artist's thought process. “When I work,” wrote
Matisse, “it’s really like a kind of perpetual cinema.” By presenting his work
in this way, his creative process is revealed and takes on an importance that
is equivalent to that of the artworks themselves.
SECTION 1: THEMES AND
VARIATIONS
Matisse quickly returned
to work, despite the context of the war and the consequences of his operation,
which had left him partially disabled. An intense drawing practice, which he
described as a blossoming, unexpectedly rejuvenated him. This jubilant burst of
inspiration provided an opportunity to develop a method of serial drawing,
which he published in a book with the evocative title Dessins. Thèmes et
variations. He strove for the same expressive ease in his paintings, with his
depictions of interior scenes and still lifes. Here, the significance of the
mental aspect of working in the studio became clear. The presence of models
(Lydia Delectorskaya, Nezy Chawkat, Monique Bourgeois and Madame Van Hyfte…),
adorned with luxurious accessories, resulted in what Louis Aragon, a key
contemporary witness, referred to as “the comedy of the model”, to describe the
constantly renewed experience the painter had with his painting. The familiar
objects with which he surrounded himself also contributed to the construction
of a sensitive and multifaceted reality, providing a backdrop for his musings,
which evolved through echoes and recollection.
The same effervescence
nourished the youthful and sensual vitality that permeates the pages of his
illustrated books. These were the only works by Matisse available to the public
during the war – a period when the artist refused to exhibit his work.
FOCUS: CAMERA LUCIDA
Matisse reproduced a
selection of one hundred and fifty-eight of his recent drawings in the Dessins.
Thèmes et variations publication. He was exploring two different approaches to
drawing. The charcoal drawing theme was heavily reworked through erasure and
stumping whereas in variation, the ink or pencil drawing unfurled in one
stroke, without hesitation. “The path traced by my pencil on the sheet of paper
is, to some extent, analogous to the gesture of a man groping his way in the
darkness. I mean that there is nothing foreseen about my path: I am led. I do
not lead.” When all the drawings were displayed on the walls of the studio in
the Régina, the effect produced was like an animation. “One thinks of cinema,”
he wrote to his son, Pierre, […] “And yet that is not it; it’s the viewer's
mind that is being led in this way.”
SECTION 2: JAZZ
In 1944, Matisse agreed
to a request by the publisher Tériade who had been wanting to work with him on
“a book about colour” for several years. Between 1943 and 1944, he worked on a
series of twenty plates created by cutting out shapes from paper painted with
gouache. These evoked the world of childhood, the circus and folk tales,
combined with memories of lagoons in Oceania. Alongside, he composed a
collection of short texts. They were his musings on art and life, which he then
wrote out in calligraphy with ink. The book's structure was based on
alternating coloured pages and text, whose role, he explained, “is purely
visual”. The choice of the title Jazz reflects not only the rhythm, but also
the sometimes strident chords of pure colour and the sense of improvisation
that pervades the entire work. Matisse spent many months trying to find the
best reproduction technique for his work. In the end, he opted for stencils,
which he executed with the gouache paints of the Linel brand he had used to
create the originals. The display of the maquette alongside the book shows just
how demanding this transposition process was. Matisse thought that, in some
cases, the book's plates were better than his original cut-outs, or vice versa.
SECTION 3 : INTÉRIEURS DE
VENICE
The series known
collectively as the Intérieurs de Vence was produced between 1946 and 1948, and
can be regarded as Matisse's farewell to painting. It consists of echoes from
near and far, like a retrospective dive into the very foundations of his work.
The resonance from one painting to the next in the series ties in with the
theme of the studio, which for Matisse was always more than just a physical
space; it was a mental space where people and things came together. Colour has
seldom been used so effectively to assert its expansive quality, extending the
pictorial space beyond the limits of the frame. The Intérieurs de Vence are
inseparable from the other modes of expression that Matisse was developing at
the same time, namely the gouache cut-outs and brush drawings. The same air
flows through them, the same feeling of lightness. Here, he managed to attain a
synthesis of his artistic approaches. “I have attained a form filtered to its
essentials — and of the object which I used to present in the complexity of its
space, I have preserved the sign which suffices and which is necessary to make
the object exist in its own form and in the totality for which I conceived it.”
FOCUS: THE BEDROOM IN THE
VILLA LE RÊVE
At the beginning of 1948,
Matisse filled the walls of his bedroom in Vence with his cut-outs, literally
covering them from floor to ceiling. The gouaches were simply pinned up on the
wall and could be rearranged and altered as his imagination dictated. These
compositions, which varied in size and had no narrative thread or content,
mostly drew on the aquatic and plant imagery of the Océanie and Polynésie
panels, to which other shapes were added. The spontaneity and impermanence
underpinning this creative process are key to understanding the contingent
nature of the gouache cut-outs. The gouaches were eventually taken down before
being sent to Paris, where Matisse had them mounted before exhibiting them.
They have been reunited here, but without imitating their original setting.
SECTION 4: MATISSE'S 'GARDEN'
Between 1948 and 1951,
Matisse dedicated his time to designing a chapel for the Dominican Sisters of
the Rosary in Vence. He envisaged it as a total work of art, from its overall
architecture and iconography to its liturgical furnishings and religious
vestments. Here, the gouache-coated paper cut-outs gained the status of a
monumental work of art. Maquettes for the stained-glass windows and large brush
drawings were worked on at full size directly on the walls of the studio in the
Régina. Other commissions were to follow, secular in nature this time, and also
spontaneous pieces. Matisse cut into the colours with scissors as each project
progressed, creating a whole range of polysemic shapes that he could assemble
and rearrange as inspiration struck, transforming his studio into a space
teeming with ideas. This world in constant metamorphosis created an ethereal
environment in which the elderly artist experienced a sense of lightness. The
plant metaphor became the most powerful symbol of creative energy and the expansive
quality of Matisse's space. This can be seen in the spiral structure of
L’Escargot and the radiating, explosive structure of La Gerbe and Acanthes.
SECTION 5 : FACES
From the very outset,
Matisse emphasised the paramount importance of studying faces. The final
publication he worked on was a collection of portraits, for which he also wrote
the preface. In this, he wrote, “The almost unconscious transcription of the
meaning of the model is the initial act of every work of art.” While
portraiture was certainly central to his approach, it was not the result of
faithfully reproducing the person, which he left to photography, but rather of
a process of identifying with his subject. On several occasions, Matisse
described this experience of drawing, during which he gradually detached
himself from physical resemblance in order to absorb the model's inner
spiritual essence in the free flow of his lines. The use of ink and brushes,
the graphic equivalent of the gouache cut-outs, brought drawing back into the
realm of writing and signs. Instead of singling out individual features, his
drawings dissipate particularities and create distance from appearances in
order to achieve universality and transform the face into a mask. In this,
Matisse is reconnecting with his inspiration from the Orient, which had always
guided the decorative aspect of his work. The frontal view of these portraits
and the aura emanating from the whiteness of the empty spaces give the
mask-like faces a monumental presence.
SECTION 6 : CARVING INTO
COLOUR
The final years of
Matisse's life were particularly prolific. The great success of the
retrospective organised by Alfred Barr at MoMA in New York in 1951 brought the
artist into the limelight and commissions began to pour in. At the same time,
he continued to work with freedom, following his inspiration and developing
gouache cut-outs (which had now become his preferred medium) in an increasingly
personal direction. The gouache cut-outs had become paintings. They now
developed beyond the mere evocation of a stylised plant world and entered the
realm of figurative art. The monumental figure of Zulma stands over two metres
tall, while La Danseuse créole brings the idea of dance up to date and is
infused with Afro-Caribbean rhythms. La Tristesse du roi, a vast biblical scene
evoking the solitude and melancholy of life's twilight years, was an attempt to
adapt this medium to history painting. In 1952, Matisse began the Nus bleus
series, which comprises around fifteen different variations of figures cut out
of blue gouache in either static or dynamic poses. The Nus bleus, which take on
the form of modern caryatids, follow in the tradition of the great Arcadian
figures that punctuated his work. Matisse was reinventing himself right up
until the end.
FOCUS: THE PLANE TREE
This tree is a recurring
theme in Matisse's work, and its dynamic vertical growth – echoing his renewed
vitality – became a favourite subject in the 1940s. Its representation gave him
the opportunity to formulate a theory about the distinction between imitative
drawing and drawing based on identification with the subject matter, which he
had discovered in the Chinese artistic tradition. “When you draw a tree, you
must feel yourself gradually growing with it.” In 1951, Matisse painted a series
of large plane trees with a view of transposing them onto ceramics to decorate
the dining room of Tériade's villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Monumental and
stylised, the way the foliage flourishes takes on an almost architectural
quality, which was already evident in L’Arbre de vie stained-glass window in
the chapel in Vence.
FOCUS: THE ACROBAT
The acrobat is the
epitome of Matisse's approach to drawing. He often referred to it to describe
what was risky, adventurous and irreversible in his work. When performing their
act, acrobats have to have practised extensively before they can throw
themselves into it without a second thought or any restraint. “It is in order
to liberate grace and character that I study so intently before making a pen
drawing. I never impose violence on myself; to the contrary, I am like the
dancer or tightrope walker who begins his day with several hours of numerous
limbering exercices.” The ink drawing in the Acrobates series has nothing to do
with a preconceived image; it is no longer a disegno, i.e. a vision in the
mind's eye. Instead, it has been generated spontaneously by venturing into the
unknown, where it reveals itself through the very process of its creation.
PC: Whole Knowledge Came From Centre Pompidou Press Office
BLUE NUDE
WITH GREEN STOCKINGS, 1952
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions:
102 3/8 x 66 1/8" (260 x 168 cm)
© Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
ACROBATS,
1952,
Charcoal and
Gouache Paper Cut-Outs,
Pasted on
Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
213 × 208,3 cm
Private
Collection
© Henri Matisse Fondation
BEASTS OF THE
SEA, 1950
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted on White Paper,
Mounted on
Canvas
Dimensions: 295.5
× 154 cm (116 5/16 × 60 5/8 in.)
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
CREOLE
DANCER, JUNE 1950
Gouache Paper
Cut-outs, Pasted on
Paper Mounted
on Canvas
Dimensions:
205 × 120 cm
Musée Matisse
Nice.
Photo © GrandPalaisRmn / Gérard Blot
LARGE COMPOSITIONS OF
GOUACHE CUT-OUTS
Matisse composed most of
his gouache cut-outs on the walls of his apartment. As they were simply pinned
in place, Matisse could rearrange them as often as he wanted until he was
satisfied. The exhibition includes many of these works, allowing visitors to
immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the artist’s apartment-cum-studio.
The large panels from the collections of the Mobilier National, which are stored at Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne, titled Polynésie, le ciel (Polynesia, the Sky) and Polynésie, la mer (Polynesia, the Sea), and the masterpiece from its Cabinet d’art graphique, La Tristesse du roi (The Sorrow of the King), are complemented by Les Bêtes de la mer (Beasts of the Sea [National Gallery of Art, Washington]) and two rare figure compositions : Danseuse créole (Creole Dancer [Musée Matisse Nice]) and Zulma (Statens Museum for Kunst).
Lastly, the four large and masterful compositions made in 1953, namely La Gerbe (The Sheaf [Hammer Museum, Los Angeles]), Acanthes (Acanthus (Fondation Beyeler]), L’Escargot (The Snail [Tate Modern, London]) and Mémoire d’Océanie (Memory of Oceania [MoMA, New York]), are displayed together for the first time in France.
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VEGETABLES,
1951
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions:
68 7/8 x 31 7/8" (175 x 81 cm)
Private Collection
BLUE NUDE
III, 1952
Gouache Paper Cut-Outs, Pasted on
Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
112 x 73,5 cm
© Henri Matisse Fondation
BLUE NUDE I,
1952
Gouache Paper Cut-Outs, Pasted on
Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
106.3 × 78 cm,
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Collection Beyeler
BLUE NUDE IV,
1952
Charcoal and
Gouache Paper Cut-Outs, Pasted on
White Canson
Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
103 x 74 cm
Donated by
Mme Jean Matisse to the French State,
on Deposit to Musée Matisse Nice, 1978, Musée d’Orsay, Paris
BLUE NUDE II, 1952
Gouache Paper Cut-Outs, Pasted on
Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 103,8 x 86 cm
Centre Pompidou, Paris Photo © Centre Pompidou,
MNAM-CCI/Service de la Documentation Photographique du MNAM/
Dist. Grand Palais Rmn
NUDE WITH ORANGE
BLUE NUDE,
SKIPPING, 1952
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted on Canvas
Dimensions: 145
x 98
National Galerie, Museum Berggruen,Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
BLUE NUDE,
THE FROG, 1952
Gouache Paper Cut-Outs, Pasted on
Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
141 × 134.5 cm
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Collection Beyeler
THE NUS BLEUS
Works from the Nus bleus (Blue Nudes) series are exceptionally shown together in this exhibition. The series comprises a number of cut-outs dating from 1952 and 1953, through which Matisse explored the theme of a blue figure, immobile or in movement, whether stationary or in movement. These masterpieces are a brilliant demonstration of his ability to synthesize. The presentation of Nu bleu II and III (Blue Nude II and III), which come from the collection of Centre Pompidou – Musée National d’Art Moderne, is complemented by the loan of Nu bleu IV (Blue Nude IV), which is kept at Nice Matisse Museum, and Nu bleu I (Blue Nude I) from Fondation Beyeler. Other loans include the very-rarely-shown Vénus (Venus) and Femme à l’amphore (Woman with Amphora), both from the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Acrobates (Acrobats), which have never been exhibited in France before, and Nu bleu aux bas verts (Blue Nude with Green Stockings) from Fondation Louis Vuitton. Lastly Nu bleu, la grenouille (Blue Nude, the Frog), which has not been exhibited in France since 1970, has been loaned by Fondation Beyeler.
BLUE NUDE, THE FROG, 1952 (DETAIL)
ACROBAT, 1952
India Ink on
Arches Wove Paper
Dimensions: 105,3 x 74,5 cm
© The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, New York
.jpg)
FEMME À
L’AMPHORE, 1953
On Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
168,5 x 48 cm
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
WOMAN WITH
AMPHORA AND POMEGRANATES, 1953
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 95
7/8 x 37 15/16" (243.6 x 96.3 cm)
National
Gallery of Art, Washington.
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
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PALE BLUE
WINDOW, 1948 - 1949
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, on Kraft Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 200 11/16 x
99 5/16" (509.8 x 252.3 cm)
Musée
National d'art Moderne/Centre de Création Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Gift of
Mme Jean Matisse and Gérard Matisse, 1982
CELESTIAL
JERUSALEM, 1948
Gouache Paper
Cut - Outs, Pasted on Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
265,5 × 130 cm
Paris, Centre
Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne
Photo ©
Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/ Georges Meguerditchian/
Dist. Grand Palais Rmn
CHASUBLE,
1950 – 1952
Gouache-Painted
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Onto Paper
Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
126,5 x 197,6 cm
145 x 205,5 cm (Leaf)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse
Don de Famille Matisse, 1986
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CHASUBLE, 1950 – 1952
Gouache-Painted Paper, Cut and Pasted
Onto Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 126,5 x 197,6 cm
145 x 205,5 cm (Leaf)
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
Don de Famille Matisse, 1986
CHASUBLE, 1950 – 1952
Gouache-Painted Paper, Cut and Pasted
Onto Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 126,5 x 197,6 cm
145 x 205,5 cm (Leaf)
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
Don de Famille Matisse, 1986
CHASUBLE, 1950 – 1952
Gouache-Painted Paper, Cut and Pasted
Onto Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 126,5 x 197,6 cm
145 x 205,5 cm (Leaf)
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
Don de Famille Matisse, 1986
.jpg)
MEMORY OF
OCENIA
Nice-Cimiez,
Hôtel Régina, Summer 1952 - Early 1953
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Charcoal on Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
9' 4" x 9' 4 7/8" (284.4 x 286.4 cm)
Credit Mrs.
Simon Guggenheim Fund
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Publication excerpt from
THE SHEAF,
1953
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
115 1/2 × 138 × 1 1/4" (293.4 × 350.5 × 3.2 cm)
Collection
University of California, Los Angeles.
Hammer Museum. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney F. Brody
.jpg)
THE SNAIL,
1953
Gouache Paper
Cut-Outs, Pasted on
Paper Mounted
on Canvas
Dimensions:
286 × 287 cm,
London, Tate Photo © akg-Images / Erich Lessing
.jpg)
LARGE COMPOSITIONS OF GOUACHE CUT-OUTS
Matisse invented the gouache-painted-paper cut-out technique, which was to become his favourite medium, between 1941 and 1954. He managed to fuse line and colour in a single gesture which allowed him to complete monumental compositions. Cut-outs are only very rarely displayed in museum rooms because they are light-sensitive and therefore particularly fragile. The last exhibitions dedicated to gouache cut-outs were held in 2014 at Tate Modern in London and MoMA in New York. This is the first time since a 1961 exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris that the public is able to discover this essential part of his practice that left an enduring legacy among artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
ACANTHES, 1953
Charcoal,
Gouache-Painted Paper, Cut and Pasted
onto Paper
Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
311,7 x 351,8 cm
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Collection Beyeler
THE SORROW OF
THE KING, 1952
Gouache Paper
Cut-Outs, Pasted on Paper Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
292 x 386 cm
Centre
Pompidou, Paris. Photo © Centre Pompidou,
MNAM-CCI/Philippe Migeat/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn
.jpg)
ZULMA, EARLY
1950
Gouache Paper
Cut - Outs, Pasted in Place
Dimensions:
273 x 152 cm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhague
THE VINE,
1953-1954
Made by the
Atelier Bony, Window: Glass, Lead, Metal Structure
Dimensions:
274,6 × 99,8
Centre
Pompidou, Paris Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI,
Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / image Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI
ST. DOMINIC,
1949
Brush and
Indian Ink on Paper Mounted on
Canvas With
White Gouache and Pasted Paper
Dimensions:
310 × 137 cm
Musée Matisse Nice Gift of the Artist’s Heirs, 1960
CHRISTMAS
NIGHT, PARIS, SUMMER – FALL, 1952
Stained Glass
Dimensions:
11' 3/4" x 54 3/4" x 5/8" (332.5 x 139 x 1 cm)
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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daydreaming and critical thinking through a dialogue
between the arts and sciences. Younger visitors are invited to broaden their
vision of the world by exploring an immersive scenography blending artworks,
manipulations and interactive devices.
Encourage exchange and
inspiration through an exhibition journey that nurtures
the imagination, encourages creativity and enables different forms of culture
to intersect.
Initiate children to
the world of museums and cultural centers by offering them
a new experience that awakens their eyes, at the crossroads of artistic and
scientific cultures.
https://www.grandpalais.fr/en/le-palais-des-enfants
LA BLOUSE
ROUMAINE, 1940
Jeune Fille :
la Blouse Roumaine ; La Blouse Paysanne
; La Blouse
Paysanne Roumaine, Fond Rouge
Ink on Paper
Dimensions:
92 x 73 x 2,5 cm
Peint à Nice
à l'Hôtel Régina de décembre
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
SELF – PORTRAIT WITH STRAW HAT, 1941
STANDING NUDE
WITH ARMS RAISED, 1947
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
73.5 x 70 cm
© The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, New York
" It is in order to liberate grace and character that I study so intently before making a pen drawing. I never impose violence on myself; to the contrary, I am like the dancer or tightrope walker who begins his day with several hours of different limbering exercises. "
Henri Matisse, 1939
NYMPHE ET
FAUNE, 1935 – 1943
Charcoal and Blending Stump on
Prepared Canvas
Dimensions:
154 x 167 cm
Dation Pierre
Matisse, 1991
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
PLUM BRANCH,
GREEN BACKROUND, 1948
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
116 × 88.9 cm
Pinacoteca Agnelli, Turin
ASIA, 1946
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
116,2 × 81,3 cm
Photo ©
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas /
Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence
%201943%2044.jpg)
ICARUS
(ICARE) 1943? - 1944
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
17 1/16 x 13 7/16" (43.4 x 34.1 cm)
Musée
National d’art Moderne/Centre de Création Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1985
MONSIEUR
LOYAL FROM JAZZ,1947
One From a
Portfolio of Twenty Pochoirs
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 9/16 x 12 3/4" (42.1 x 32.4 cm);
Sheet: 16
9/16 x 25 11/16" (42.1 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
THE CLOWN,
1943
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
26 7/16 x 19 15/16" (67.2 x 50.7 cm)
Musée
National d’art Moderne/Centre de Création Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1985
%20-%202.jpg)
JAZZ : THE ALBUM AND ITS MAQUETTES
Matisse designed the Jazz album, which was published by Tériade in 1947, during the war. It was the first work he made using gouache-painted paper cut-outs. The album was met with widespread success upon its release and was considered one of the greatest artist’s books of the 20th century. With Jazz, Matisse questioned the reproduction of colours, for which he maintained particularly high standards. The exhibition exceptionally presents all of the album’s plates alongside their maquettes made of gouache-painted paper cut-outs, which are held in the Centre Pompidou collections, thus allowing visitors to compare the originals with their reproductions - made using a stencil process - and understand all the challenges presented by this major work. This display is accompanied by an electro-acoustic work commissioned from Claudia Jane Scroccaro by Ircam, that immerses visitors in the musical atmosphere of the work and is a reminder that Matisse was a great lover of music (see page 23).
THE CIRCUS
(LE CIRQUE) 1943
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
17 13/16 x 26 7/16" (45.2 x 67.1 cm)
Musée
National d’art Moderne/Centre de Création Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1985
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
THE NIGHTMARE
OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT FROM JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 5/16 x 25 3/16" (41.4 x 64 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
x 25 11/16" (42.3 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
HORSE, RIDER
AND CLOWN FROM JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 9/16 x 25 5/16" (42 x 64.3 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
x 25 13/16" (42.3 x 65.5 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
THE WOLF FROM
JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 1/2 x 24 15/16" (41.9 x 63.4 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
x 25 11/16" (42.3 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
FORMS FROM
JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 1/8 x 22 13/16" (41 x 58 cm);
Sheet: 16
9/16 x 25 11/16" (42.1 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
PIERROT’S
FUNERAL FROM JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 5/16 x 25 5/8" (41.4 x 65.1 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
x 25 11/16" (42.2 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
.jpg)
" Cutting directly into colour reminds me of a sculptor’s carving into stone. This book was conceived in that spirit. " Henri Matisse, 1947
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
THE CODOMAS,
1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.) and Sheet: 16 5/8 x 25 5/8" (42.2 x 65.1 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
THE SWIMMER
IN THE TANK FROM JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 x 24 3/4" (40.6 x 62.8 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
x 25 11/16" (42.2 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
%20from%20Jazz.%201947.jpg)
THE SWORD
SWALLOWER, 1943
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions: 17
1/16 x 13 1/2" (43.3 x 34.3 cm)
Musée
National d’art Moderne/Centre de Création Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1985
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
THE COWBOY,
1943
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
16 15/16 x 26 3/4" (43 x 68 cm)
Musée
National d’art Moderne/Centre de Creation Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1985
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
THE KNIFE
THROWER, 1943 – 1944
Gouache
Paper, Cut Out and Glued on Marouflé Paper on Canvas
Composition
(irreg.): 15 15/16 × 25 9/16" (40.5 × 64.9 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
× 25 9/16" (42.2 × 64.9 cm)
PublisherTériade,
Paris
Credit: The
Louis E. Stern Collection
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
The energetic, vivid
fuchsia form shown here at the left represents a knife thrower, while the
static, pale blue form with upraised arms at the right suggests his female
partner in the popular circus act. Shapes resembling leaves float across the
composition, providing a dreamlike atmosphere for this aesthetic vision.
"These images, with their lively and violent tones, derive from
crystallizations of memories of circuses, folktales, and voyages." So
wrote Matisse in the poetic text accompanying his compositions for Jazz, his
extraordinary artist's book. The Knife Thrower is one of twenty
images in this volume, which are interleaved with pages on which his own
handwritten words are printed.
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%20from%20Jazz%201947%20KIRMIZI%20MAVI%20YESIL%20SIYAH.jpg)
LAGOON FROM
JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 x 24 1/8" (40.7 x 61.2 cm);
Sheet: 16 5/8
x 25 11/16" (42.3 x 65.3 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
%20from%20Jazz.jpg)
LAGOON FROM
JAZZ, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, and Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions
Composition (irreg.): 16 1/16 x 25 5/16" (40.8 x 64.3 cm);
Sheet: 16
9/16 x 25 9/16" (42.1 x 65 cm)
© 2026
Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Portfolio Jazz
FACE, 1952
Brush and Ink
on Paper
Dimensions:
65 x 50 cm
Private
Collection
© Henri Matisse Fondation
VISAGE SUR
FOND JAUNE, 1952
Gouache, Encre de Chine Sur Papier Fixé
Dimensions:
75,3 x 64,6 cm
© 2026 Succession H. Matisse
WHITE ALGE ON
RED AND GREEN BACKRGOUND, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions:
20 11/16 x 15 15/16" (52.5 x 40.5 cm)
© Fondation
Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Beyeler Collection
.jpg)
COMPOSITION
WITH RED CROSS, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions: 29
3/16 x 20 5/8" (74.1 x 52.4 cm)
Private collection
COMPOSITION,
BLACK AND RED, 1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions: 16
x 20 3/4" (40.6 x 52.7 cm)
Davis Museum
and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley,
MA. Gift of Professor and Mrs. John McAndrew
%20-%20detail.jpg)
AMPHITRITE,
1947
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions:
33 11/16 x 27 9/16" (85.5 x 70 cm)
Private Collection
.jpg)
THE FALL OF
ICARUS, 1943
Gouache -
Painted Papers, Cut Out and Pinned
Dimensions:
36 x 26,5 cm
Collection Privée Courtesy Galerie de l'Institut
APOLLINAIRE,
1952
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted
Dimensions: 12
7/8 × 10" (32.7 × 25.4 cm)
The Mourlot Archives
TWO DANCERS,
1937 - 1938
Stage Curtain
Design For the Ballet Rouge et Noir
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, Notebook Papers,
Pencil, and
Thumbtacks
Dimensions:
31 9/16 x 25 3/8" (80.2 x 64.5 cm)
Musée
National d'art Moderne/Centre de Création Industrielle,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1991
INTÉRIEUR
ROUGE, NATURE MORTE SUR TABLE BLEUE, 1947
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
116 x 89 cm,
Kunstsammlung
Nordrhein Westfalen, Düsseldorf Photo
© BPK, Berlin, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Walter Klein
LES INTÉRIEURS DE VENCE, A FAREWELL TO PAINTING
This series of works, which are referred to generically as the Intérieurs de Vence (Vence Interiors), was made between 1946 and 1948 and can be considered Matisse’s farewell to painting. References to past and present works run through the paintings which echo one another and can be seen as a retrospective dive into the foundations of his practice. Never has colour been given such an expansive quality as it extends the pictorial space beyond the limits of the frames. The Centre Pompidou's collection includes two major works from the Intérieurs de Vence series, which are presented alongside a number of paintings that are on display in France for the first time, including works from the Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), University of Iowa Museum of Art and Pinacoteca Agnelli (Turin). The exhibition also features exceptional loans from Fondation Beyeler and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen in Düsseldorf.
POLYNÉSIE, LA
MER, 1946
Pasted Papers
Enhanced With Gouache and
Mounted on
canvas
Dimensions: 196
x 314 cm
Dépôt du Mobilier National et Manufactures des Gobelins,
de Beauvais et de la Savonnerie, 1975
OCEANIA, THE
SKY, 1946
(Realized as
Silkscreen 1946)
Gouache on
Paper, Cut and Pasted, on Paper, Mounted on Canvas
Dimensions:
70 3/16 x 145 9/16" (178.3 x 369.7 cm)
Musée
Départemental Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis.
Gift of the Matisse Family, 2004
OCEANIA – THE SEA, 1948
Dyed Linen, Plain Weave; Screen Printed With Oil Paint
Dimensions: 173.2 × 287.4 cm (68 1/8 × 152 1/2 in.)
© 2025 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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HENRI MATISSE
1941-1954 : A KEY PERIOD
1941
In 1940, following the
exodus, Matisse returned to his apartment in the Régina in Nice, located in the
free zone. He had turned down several offers of exile. “If everyone of any
worth leaves the country, what will become of France? And the future? I’m waiting
for it. No matter what happens, I shall not budge from here.” (Letter to Pierre
Matisse, October 11, 1940). In January 1941, he narrowly escaped death after
undergoing an operation that left him severely physically impaired. Now mostly
bedridden, he began writing extensive correspondence peppered with numerous
recollections, and conducted a series of interviews with art critic Pierre
Courthion, which were ultimately not published in his lifetime. This was the
start of an intense period of drawing, which he compared to “a blossoming”. He
devoted his nights to illustrated book projects, notably Pasiphaé. Chant de
Minos (Les Crétois) by Henry de Montherlant. These books became the medium for
showing his work, as Matisse was considered a degenerate artist by the Nazi
regime and refused to exhibit in France during the war.
1942
“My operation has been an
extraordinary thing for me, mentally. It has balanced my mind – clarified my
thoughts. It’s like a second life.” (Letter to Pierre Matisse, March 11). The
challenge of succeeding equally well in painting as in drawing caused Matisse a
great deal of anxiety and led him to say that if he succeeded, he would be able
to “die in peace”. At the same time, he continued to work on illustrations for
the books Florilège des Amours (Anthololgy of Love) de Ronsard and Poèmes de
Charles d’Orléans.
1943
An air raid on Nice and
the threat of seeing the Régina occupied by the Germans prompted Matisse to
move to Vence, where he rented the villa Le Rêve. The villa's atmosphere, particularly
its lush garden that reminded him of Tahiti, was a new and prolific source of
inspiration for the artist. The album Dessins. Thèmes et variations (Drawings.
Themes and variations), in which Matisse explained his serial method, was
published. In the preface, Aragon described him as a symbol of hope for
occupied France. Commissioned by the art publisher Tériade in 1940 to create a
“book on Matisse's colour”, the artist designed the first plates in
gouache-painted paper cut-outs for what would become the Jazz illustrated book,
which was printed in 1947.
1944
In April/May, Matisse's
wife, Amélie, and his daughter, Marguerite, were arrested by the Gestapo for
acts of resistance. Amélie spent six months in Fresnes prison. Marguerite was
tortured and deported before being released in August. To cope with these
tragic events, Matisse immersed himself in his work, devoting his energy to
illustrating Les Fleurs du mal (The flowers of Evil) by Charles Baudelaire.
1945
With the end of the war,
Matisse returned to the limelight at the Salon d'Automne in Paris, where
thirty-seven of his recent works were exhibited, including La Blouse roumaine
(The Rumanian Blouse), a ‘blue, white and red’ painting symbolic of the
Liberation. The acquisition by the government of seven paintings for the
reopening of the Musée National d'Art Moderne and an exhibition at the Galerie
Maeght cemented his reputation as a leading figure of peace and French art. At
the end of the year, he created La Lyre which he considered to be his first
gouache cut-out.
1946
Matisse and Picasso
resumed their dialogue and both participated in the exhibition "Art et
Résistance" at the Musée National d’Art Moderne. Their friendship grew
stronger as Picasso, accompanied by Françoise Gilot, made regular visits to his
older friend. At the end of the spring, Matisse embarked on his last major
series of paintings, the Intérieurs de Vence (Vence Interiors), which he
completed in 1948. In his flat on Boulevard du Montparnasse in Paris, he
created two large decorative panels, Océanie, la mer (Oceania, the sea) and
Océanie, le ciel (Oceania, the sky), on the walls of his bedroom using cut-out
paper. He also fulfilled a commission for a tapestry for the Gobelins factory.
1 947
After a year in Paris,
Matisse moved back to the villa Le Rêve, where he covered a wall with small,
spontaneously created gouache cut-outs. After being asked for advice by Sister
Jacques-Marie, he agreed to embark on the Chapel of the Rosary project in
Vence, which he conceived as a total work of art. For this, he would create
stained-glass windows, ceramic murals, the roof decoration, furniture and
liturgical vestments. Largely financed using his own money, this architectural
project took up almost all of his time for three years.
1948
From January onwards, he began to think about the architecture of the Chapel of the Rosary and its iconography. He was assisted by Brother Rayssiguier, a young Dominican and amateur architect, and Father Couturier, a central figure in the post-war revival of sacred art. In the spring, he often received visits from André Breton, who marvelled at the cut-outs that he “endlessly created in his bed in an almost surrealist manner”. (Letter to Pierre Matisse, 6 February)
1949
Back in his apartment in
the Régina in Nice, he worked on the stained-glass windows for the Chapel of
the Rosary, using full-scale maquettes made of gouache cut-outs that covered
the entire height of the wall of his studio, which he now called “the factory”.
As the ‘project manager’, he ensured that everything ran smoothly, supported by
several assistants. The American press praised his youthfulness when a
selection of his recent works was presented at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in
New York. These included the Intérieurs de Vence, brush drawings and, for the
first time, the gouache cut-outs. Part of the exhibition was brought to the
Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris to celebrate his 80th birthday. This
created quite a stir, changing French opinion, which until then had considered
him the “painter of odalisques”.
1 950
The gouache cut-out had
now established itself as a mode of expression in its own right. This was also
the first time that Matisse had used it to depict figures, such as Zulma and
Danseuse créole (Creole Dancer), which was created in a single day. Now a
prize-winner at the 25th Venice Biennale, Matisse exhibited in Paris at the
Maison de la Pensée Française, the Communist Party's cultural centre. Aragon
wrote the preface to the exhibition catalogue, but the artist's decision to
present two mock-ups for the chapel in Vence reflected his desire to blur the
lines and avoid any form of ideological appropriation.
1951
His final paintings:
Femme à la gandoura bleue (Woman with a blue guitar) and Katia à la chemise
jaune (Katia in a yellow dress). He started a vast composition made from
gouache cut outs on the walls of his bedroom/studio in the Régina, La Perruche
et la Sirène (The Parakeet and the Mermaid), which he compared to a garden. In
the United States, the retrospective organised by Alfred Barr at MoMA in the
autumn and the publication of his monograph Matisse. His Art and His Public
established the image of an avant-garde artist who was a precursor of
abstraction.
1952
This was a prolific year.
Matisse completed La Perruche et la Sirène as well as a very large panel, La
Tristesse du roi (Sorrow of the King), the first gouache cut-out to enter
French public collections during the artist’s lifetime. He created the Nus
Bleus (Blue Nudes) series, which culminated in La Piscine (The Swimming Pool),
a decorative mural featuring a dance-like display of divers and swimmers
covering four walls at the Régina. A commission for a ceramic mural to decorate
the courtyard of a villa in Los Angeles led Matisse to work on several
maquettes until the following year, Fleurs et fruits (Flowers and Fruits),
Grande décoration aux masques (Large Decoration with Masks), Apollon and La
Gerbe (The Sheaf), which was ultimately selected. For Life Magazine, he also
created a large stained-glass window Nuit de Noël (Christmas Eve), which was
installed at the Rockefeller Centre in December.
1953
Matisse completed two
important gouache cut-outs during this year: Mémoire d’Océanie (Memories of
Oceania), his final piece evoking his trip to Tahiti in 1930, and L’Escargot
(The Snail), which is composed of pieces of paper torn by hand. In the spring,
the Galerie Berggruen in France hosted the first exhibition entirely devoted to
works created using this technique.
1954
Matisse received a commission to create a stained-glass window for Nelson A. Rockefeller for the Union Church in Pocantico Hills, New York. He completed the maquette, Rosace, on 1 November. This would be his final work. He passed away two days later in Nice, surrounded by his daughter Marguerite and his assistant and model Lydia Delectorskaya. His funeral on November 7 was an international event that was covered by the press. Two days earlier, the New York Times had written that he was one of “the young rebels who lived long enough to be regarded as an old master. His life was an integral and important part of what has come to be known as the Modern Movement.”
PC: Knowledge Came From Centre Pompidou Press Office
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