Henri Matisse

the long version

This volume explains the works of Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Matisse was a French artist, known primarily as a painter and for his use of color and his fluid and original draftsmanship. The colorful, painterly, uplifting, and often joyous works of Henri Matisse are critical in the history of modern art. Throughout his many years as a painter, the celebrated artist kept returning to one particular subject -- the windowed interior. This work analyzes more than fifty paintings, examining the full significance of the window in Matisse's thinking about interior and exterior space. Matisse studied and rearranged his rooms constantly; when he lived in hotels and small apartments his living quarters usually doubled as his studio. In a continuous engagement with these spaces he produced not only singular masterpieces but also developed a theme as rich as the traditional landscape or portrait.