Sale of paintings by Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse (1869–1954) is one of the greatest masters of modern art, renowned for his bold use of color and expressive style. A pioneer of Fauvism, alongside André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck, he quickly moved away from academic naturalism, favoring vibrant, unconventional color palettes, as seen in his famous painting Woman with a Hat (1905).

His work later evolved towards a simplification of forms, influenced by the Post-Impressionism of Van Gogh and Gauguin, as well as the pictorial construction of Cézanne, whom he deeply admired. Paintings such as Dance (1910) and Music (1910), commissioned by Russian collector Sergei Shchukin, reflect his attraction to dynamic rhythms and the purity of color.

In the 1920s, he adopted a more decorative style, flirting with Orientalism and Neoclassicism, as seen in Odalisque in Red Trousers (1921). His stay in Nice led him to explore Mediterranean light and the motif of the reclining woman in a lush setting.

After undergoing major surgery in 1941, Matisse reinvented his art with the cut-out technique, reaching its peak with The Sorrows of the King (1952) and La Gerbe (1953). This late period, marked by monumental compositions made from colorful paper cut-outs, had a profound influence on artists of Lyrical Abstraction and Pop Art.

Often compared to his rival Pablo Picasso, with whom he maintained an ongoing artistic dialogue, Matisse remains an essential figure, celebrated for his boldness and his relentless pursuit of beauty through color and form.