1. 1869-1954

3. Who was Henri matisse? Henri Matisse was born on December 31, 1869 in Nord, France. In 1887 he went to Paris and studied to become a lawyer. He first started to paint in 1889 when his mother gave him paints to keep him busy while he was recovering from appendicitis. He decided that painting was “a kind of paradise” and he quit being a lawyer in favor of being an artist

4. He went to art school in Paris, painting still lifes and landscapes in traditional style. In 1897, he visited a friend in Brittany who introduced him to Impressionism and the work of Vincent VanGogh (who was unknown then). Matisse’s style changed completely after seeing what they were doing.The paintings of this period used flat shapes and controlled lines.

5. In 1905, Matisse joined a group of artists who exhibited paintings which expressed emotion with wild unnatural colors. An art critic dubbed these painters the “Fauves” which meant wild beasts. The paintings were criticized harshly, and for a while, it was hard for Matisse to make a living as a painter.

6. In 1939 he separated from his wife of 39 years. He had surgery and afterward used a wheelchair. He started making collages from cut paper, which he called “Painting with scissors”. He died in November 1954 and is buried, with his wife, in Cimiez, France (near Nice).

15. Collage - French word meaning to paste

16. He used both Organic and geometric Shapes Geometric shapes are ones with sides. Sample:

17. Organic Shapes -anything found in nature, -cannot be named, -no two are ever the same

18. Organic Shapes

19. Overlapping

21. In Art You Will: -Create a Matisse Collage Using symbols -organic and geometric shapes -overlapping Use your space of the paper!