Matisse

Matisse Art Lesson

“My curves are not crazy.” –Henri Matisse

Try cutting out curvy shapes of bright colored construction paper or cardstock! Then glue them on white paper. Stack them and layer them to get your uniquie one of kind artwork.  Henri Matisse used paper cutouts for his famous artwork.

Before Matisse started to cut, he observed his subject for a long, long time, studying it very closely. He made many drawings, sometimes working on them for an entire week before ever picking up a pair of scissors. He would concentrate and close his eyes to come up with the perfect shape. Then he'd pick up his pencil and race across the paper at top speed putting the final shape onto colored paper.

In order to get exactly the color he wanted, Matisse made his own colored paper by painting white sheets of paper with paints he mixed himself. Once he had the perfect color, he began to think more like a sculptor than a painter. He'd cut away at his material rather than add it to his creation. His "unnecessary details" fell to the ground with the snips of paper as he created simple forms that were filled with energy.


Biography:

Henri Matisse was born in France in 1864. His father sold seeds and grain and his mother was a dressmaker. At the age of 20 Henri was studying to be a lawyer when he became very ill. He had to have surgery and was bedridden. Henri was very bored just lying around so his mother gave him a box of paints and brushes so he would have something to do. When he recovered he did not want to go back to law school, instead he went straight to art school!

In 1904, Matisse spent the summer in southern France with a few other painters. The colors in the paintings he made were so vibrant that art critics thought Henri and his friends painted like "Fauves" (a French work for wild beasts/men). Critics thought the "Fauvists" would never be successful artists, but they were wrong. Henri Matisse worked on his art for over 60 years and became one of the greatest artists of all time! Throughout his lifetime, he suffered from poor health, but that never stopped him from creating art! Many pictures were painted from his sick bed so they show the inside of his room and a view of the outdoors through an open window, the rooms had patterned wallpaper, curtains, tablecloths and many everyday objects, there was so much to look at in Matisse's pictures! He used rich colors and shapes and loved to paint people too. Henri was also known for trying a new style by painting paper and then cutting it out and pasting it into the painting.

Matisse was married and had three children. He loved to travel and explore other countries and often was influenced by those cultures and their folk art. He died in 1954 he was 85!