Henri Matisse

• Date of birth: 31 December 1869
• Date of death: 3 Nov 1954
• Country: France

Biography:

The work of Henri Matisse is impressive with its expression, intense colour and simple methods of painting. His sculptures and paintings are dazzling with a minimum set of graphic tools impress with their forms and local colors. One of the creators of Fauvism, Matisse has come a long way, “sorting through” a variety of styles and directions, eventually finding himself in the move “wild”, remembered for posterity as the author of the memorable extraordinary works.

Years of life

The future artist was born in 1869, 31 December, in one of the Northern regions of France, in Picardy. He was the eldest child in the family quite prosperous grain merchant, and was supposed to be the heir to his business. His mother helped her husband to work in the shop and loved to paint pottery, so we can say that the love of art Matisse imbibed with mother’s milk. However, he came to this after initially, he had to study in law School in Paris, against the will of the father who saw him as his successor. Returning to his native Saint-Quentin, Henri began working as a clerk in his new specialty.

After removal of appendicitis, the future famous artist for a long time was sick and mother became interested in drawing. He decided to become a painter and studied in different schools, seeking to enroll in the Paris School of fine arts, where not included.

While studying at the School of decorative arts, he met albert Marquet, with whom he entered the School of fine arts in the class of Gustave Moreau. At this time he met other students who in the future became well-known artists.

Talent development

The School fees include the compulsory reproduction of paintings by famous masters of the old school. On Matisse was influenced the paintings of Chardin and artists of his time and classical Japanese paintings and drawings.

In 1894, his model gave birth to his daughter Margherita, whom he acknowledged and subsequently raised their family.

Familiarity with John Peter Russell radically changed the worldview of Henri Matisse as an artist. He became fascinated by impressionism, he became friends with van Gogh, were exhibited and enjoyed popularity among fans and buyers.

In 1899, Matisse became acquainted with andré Derain and other artists who influenced his further development. The following year he began the study of sculpture, trained at the Academy de La Grand Chaumiere in courses of Antoine Bourdelle. The family started to experience serious financial difficulties, and the artist is depressed, even thinking about the rejection of the artist’s career.

Until 1905 Matisse was actively looking for him, creating paintings and sculpture in the style of impressionism, as well as experimenting with other directions. But really he found himself in the movement of the fauves, or wild, whose leader together with Andre Derain, he became. Despite the short period of popularity of flow and rejection of his reactionary critics, that’s Fauvist period gave us that Matisse, whom we know and love.

The scandalous success of the works of masters gave him the opportunity to continue the work and establish the Matisse Academy, gave the world more than 100 artists.

Matisse gradually gained worldwide popularity, thanks largely to Russian patrons and collectors, as well as works on sketches for the Ballet Russes. The last years of his life, even during the Second World War, the artist spent in nice, where he died in 1954.

Admire the Matisse of the period of Fauvism in the Hermitage, where his “Dance” occupies an entire wall of the room, hitting the incoming expression five bright red shapes on the rich background of blue and green.