henri matisse - 1869-1954
matisse’s later years were influenced by his physical
condition. from the mid 1940’s matisse found paint difficult to
manipulate because of his disability and worked from his bed or
wheelchair as a result of surgery for stomach cancer. matisse developed
an art practice that could be carried out sitting down: drawings, paper
cutouts, and designs for larger projects. the pieces began life as
sheets of precoloured paper that matisse hand cut. he then directed his
assistants where to paste them on large sheets of paper.
matisse had been both a sculptor and a painter. through
his paper cut-outs he applied the technique of the sculptor to the
substance of painting and carved blocks of pure colour out of paper. for
an issue of the french portfolio, verve, published by teriade, devoted
to his later works, matisse supervised the production of lithographs
after these paper cutouts. these were printed by mourlot frères, one of
the main lithographic studios of paris. about half-way through the
project, matisse died. the works were printed as lithographs after the
paper cutouts in a special issue of verve entitled les derniers oeuvres
de matisse and published in 1956. the ones that were produced before his
death bear his signature in the stone; those after, lack it. the
lithographic plates were erased after the edition was printed.
matisse’s works of 1952 to 1954 suggest the golden age,
the extraordinary garden of earthly paradise brimming with flowers and
fruits among which as myth prescribes, naked creatures wander.
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