Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs

The Horse, the Rider and the Clown, 1943-4

I am very excited to say that Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is opening its doors at the Tate Modern tomorrow, revealing the most comprehensive exhibition of the artist's paper cut-outs created between 1943-1954. Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse (1869-1954) was a master of expressive drawing, leading colourist and one of the forerunners of modern art. After being diagnosed with cancer in 1941 he found it increasingly difficult to paint and turned his hand to cutting shapes out of painted paper using scissors. “Painting with scissors” was what he called it, painstakingly arranging and rearranging the cut shapes until the desired balance of form and colour was achieved, after which the finished composition was glued to paper, canvas or board. The resultant maquettes were created for commissions, books, stained glass windows and ceramics that resulted in some of the most influential works of his entire career that spanned over half a century.

Large Composition with Masks, 1953

The new medium gave him a new lease of life, illustrated through their expressive bold colours and vast scale, simultaneously imbued with an engaging simplicity and creative sophistication. Of the 120 works on show highlights include his very first cut-outs created between 1943-1947 which comprise Jazz, 1947, a book of 20 plates, alongside an album which contains copies of the 20 plates with hand written text, only 100 copies of which were printed. This will be the first time both the book and album have been on display outside of France.

Off great significance is the fact that The Snail, 1953, Memory of Oceania, 1953 and Large Composition with Masks, 1953, initially conceived as a unified whole, are being reunited for the first time since their creation in the artists studio. The exhibition also includes the largest number of his Blue Nudes ever to be on public display together, most notable is Blue Nude I, 1952.

The Snail, 1953

Blue Nude (I) 1952

Icarus, 1946

London is the first to host this landmark exhibition, closing on September 7th, before it travels to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.