Along with André Derain, Henri Matisse was the foremost figure of Fauvism, a painting style that emerged in 1904. Les Fauves (French for the wild beasts) emphasized painterly qualities and vibrant color over realistic elements. The Fauvist movement only lasted a few years, but this short period was later seen as a highly influential art movement. Below, you will find outstanding paintings by Henri Matisse, information about his early life, and recent Matisse auction results from prominent houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
Henri Matisse: Background and Early Life
Henri Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in 1869. Although he would later become one of the greatest artists in history, he displayed little interest in art until he was about 20 years old. He first studied law and worked as a lawyer’s secretary. For about a year, he fell ill with appendicitis and was bed-bound, which led him to begin to draw and paint out of sheer boredom. After that, Henri Matisse decided to study art at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1892-1893.
While Matisse’s artworks were executed in a naturalistic style initially, he later became more experimental. He was a contemporary of several of the great Post-Impressionists: Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Paul Gauguin, and many of his initial works were in more of a French Realist style. He was considered an unusual member of the Parisian avant-garde, with a middle-class Northern French upbringing and a bourgeois appearance, including gold-rimmed spectacles and conservative clothing. Although Fauvism largely marks his career, he did not become involved with the movement until 1905.
1. Femme au Chapeau (Woman with a Hat), 1905
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterThe oil painting Femme au Chapeau (1905) depicts Henri Matisse’s wife, Amélie Matisse. It attracted a lot of criticism at its first exhibition at the Salon d’Autonome in Paris. The painting, as well as the whole exhibition of works by Henri Matisse, André Derain, and Maurice de Vlaminck, incurred the visitors’ as well as the critics’ displeasure. Femme au Chapeau was mainly criticized for its wild rhythm of colors, but also because it was missing the traditional hierarchy of foreground and background. After the art critic Louis Vauxcelles called the artists Les Fauves (“wild beasts”), Fauvism as an art style was born. Later, the artists adopted the term Fauvism as their own.
2. La Raie Verte (The Green Stripe), 1905
La Raie Verte (1905), also known as Portrait of Madame Matisse, is another portrait by Henri Matisse depicting his wife. The green stripe in the middle of the oil painting from which the title of the artwork derives separates the face of Amélie Matisse down the middle. This painting is an early example of Matisse’s understanding of color and light: The artist did not see light and shadow as dark and light spaces in a painting but defined them as spaces of different shades of color. He designed a lot of his paintings with these shades and small spaces.
3. Le Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of Life), 1905
Le Bonheur de Vivre (1905) by Matisse is perhaps one of the most radical paintings of its time. Looking at it from a traditional perspective, one could see a pastoral scene, a bacchanal, or a dance of nymphs. But there was a new element to this traditional iconography: the rhythm and dynamics in the painting. Pablo Picasso is said to have been so impressed by the masterpiece that he later tried to surpass it with his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
4. Nu bleu: Souvenir de Biskr (Blue Nude: Souvenir of Biskra), 1907
Nu bleu: souvenir de Biskr (1907) was created by Henri Matisse after he visited North Africa. Contrary to artists like Paul Klee, Matisse rarely painted on his trips but always tried to reflect on his travels afterward. The palm trees in the back of this work are a reference to the city of Biskra in Algeria. This oil painting was also very shocking for the art watchers of 1907. The main reason here is the way the female body is displayed with its physical proportions and volumetric being.
5. Le Dessert Rouge (The Red Desert), 1908
Le Dessert Rouge (1908) is an interesting work that tells a lot about the artist’s way of approaching and constructing his works. When the Russian art collector Sergej Schtschukin bought a Matisse painting called Le Harmonie Bleu at an exhibition at the Salon d’Autonome in 1908, it was delivered to him in a different way than he originally saw it. Because Matisse did not like the contrasts of the painting, he without warning changed its background to red and sent it to the buyer as Le Dessert Rouge. This stunning Fauvist painting is also an example of Matisse playing with impressionist elements.
6. La danse II (Dance), 1910
La danse II (1910), together with La musique, is one of two contract paintings for the art collector Sergey Shchukin. La danse II by Henri Matisse is the second version of the painting, and it shows five women dancing on a hill. The motif is very organic and at the same time, it communicates a very condensed message. There is a complementary contrast between the red and yellow colors in the foreground as well as blue and green in the background. While the motif of the dancing women can also be found in Le Bonheur de vivre, La danse II is considered to be symbolic of a turning point in Matisse’s work.
7. Une vue de Notre-Dame (View of Notre-Dame), 1914
Une vue de Notre-Dame (1914) is seen as a change in Henri Matisse’s oeuvre: as a starting point of an experimental period. During World War I, the artist began to paint a lot of black paintings that were very reduced in their motif. This change in the use of color can already be seen in this work, which features a subdued palette of blues, grays, and black.
8. Femme au Manteau Violet (Woman in a Purple Coat), 1937
Femme au manteau violet (1937), also known as Woman in a Purple Coat, is a portrait of Matisse’s muse and later partner Lydia Delectorskaya. This painting is one of the most famous works of the artist’s late oeuvre, as Lydia Delectorskaya was the reason why Matisse’s and Amélie’s marriage broke up. This oil painting is seen nowadays as one of Matisse’s main bridges from Fauvism to Expressionism.
Auction Results for Artworks by Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 on November 3, 1954, leaving behind a prolific body of work and artistic legacy. Today, Matisse is viewed as one of the greatest artists in history and his works are frequently sold for large quantities of money at prominent action houses. These are four artworks by the French artist that were sold for high values in recent years at Sotheby’s and Christie‘s:
1. Vase D’anémones, 1946
Vase D’anémones (1946) by Matisse was sold in 2019 at Sotheby’s for £4,298,400 GBP. This work is from the artist’s later years, and is perhaps one of the last few still life paintings ever created by Matisse. Shortly after he made this painting, his health deteriorated and he was reduced to only making artwork out of paper cutouts for health reasons.
2. Nu debout aux bras levés, 1922-1923
Nu debout aux bras levés (1922-1923) by Matisse was sold via Sotheby’s in 2019 for $468,750 USD. This sketch, composed of charcoal and estompe on paper, is an example of the artist’s fascination with the nude female form. Most of Matisse’s masterpieces depict women or the female body in some way, and as such, this sketch was highly valued at auction.
3. Nu au peignoir, 1941
Nu au peignoir (1941) by Matisse was sold via Sotheby’s in 2018 for $4,215,000 USD. This painting is reflective of Matisse’s unique style of depicting women, which started in the 1930s and involved dynamic clothing and costumes. Indeed, this figure’s clothing is draped and striking, and her form takes up the majority of the canvas, another Matisse signature.
4. Scène d’intérieur, 1944
Scène d’intérieur (1944) by Matisse was sold via Christie’s in recent years for £311,250 GBP. This piece is comprised of pen and India ink on paper and comes from a time in Matisse’s artistic career when his work was marked by a self-named floraison, a flowering. The scene in this work is opulent, featuring a woman, a teacup, a goblet, florals, and pomegranates.
Originally published: September 5, 2019. Last updated: July 6, 2024.
