Henri Matisse was a visionary French artist whose daring use of color and fluid line reshaped the course of modern art. Over a five‑decade career he evolved from Fauvist firebrand to the creator of joyful paper cutouts, leaving an indelible influence on painters, designers, and collectors worldwide.
Who Was Henri Matisse?
Henri‑Émile‑Benoît Matisse (1869‑1954) started painting at age 20 while he was healing from surgery. He soon left law school to attend Paris’s Académie Julian. Under the guidance of symbolist mentor Gustave Moreau, he learned Renaissance drawing.
By 1905, he surprised the Salon d’Automne with bright canvases. These works were full of pure colors and strong lines. Critics called this movement Fauvism, meaning “wild-beast” art.
Over five decades, Matisse changed his style many times. In the 1890s, he used Divisionist dots. In 1910, he created flat, rhythmic figures in Dance. During his Nice years from 1917 to 1930, he painted Mediterranean interiors.
After life-saving surgery, he made bright paper cutouts for the 1947 Jazz portfolio. Far from a linear march, his evolution resembles a spiral—each return to line, color, or ornament revealing fresh clarity.
A Quick Timeline
- 1869: Born Le Cateau Cambrésis, northern France
- 1905: Leads Fauvist exhibition with Derain and Vlaminck
- 1909 – 11: Paints monumental commissions Dance and Music for Russian collector Sergei Shchukin
- 1917: Moves to Nice; produces odalisques bathed in Mediterranean light
- 1930: Travels to the U.S. and Tahiti—new openness to exotic pattern
- 1943 – 47: Creates cut-paper gouaches and the pochoir masterpiece Jazz
- 1954: Dies in Nice; legacy cements alongside Picasso as pillar of modern art
A Life in Color: Key Periods of Innovation
Matisse’s career unfolded through a series of boldly distinct phases, each revealing a fresh approach to color, form, and subject. These milestones trace how his restless experimentation reshaped modern art decade after decade.
Fauvism (1904 -1908)
During these breakthrough years, Matisse flooded his canvases with unmixed cadmium reds, viridian greens, and cobalt blues, depicting Collioure’s sun‑drenched coastline and intimate portraits of his wife Amélie. Critics dubbed him a “wild beast,” yet this fearless palette—used as structure rather than decoration—showed that pure color could carry emotion and form, laying crucial groundwork for later abstract movements.
Arcadian Experiments (1909 – 1916)
Commissioned by Shchukin, Matisse pared figures to flowing silhouettes in Dance and Music, foregrounding harmony between body and landscape. These canvases later informed the colorfield resonance in works by Rothko and Newman.
Nice & the Decorative Interior (1917-1930)
Critics once dismissed the odalisques as a retreat; today scholars prize them for refining his sinuous line and complex pattern. Fabrics, Moorish screens, and lace veils act as compositional scaffolds, turning interiors into jewel box worlds.
The CutPaper Revolution (1943-1954)
Confined to a wheelchair, Matisse “painted with scissors,” pinning gouache painted papers into bold shapes—stars, swimmers, acrobats—on his studio walls. Master printer Tériade transformed twenty of these into the pochoir prints of Jazz, each sheet a symphony of hand brushed color.
Signature Techniques & Lasting Influence
From oils to paper cutouts, Matisse refined a handful of core strategies that continue to shape visual culture today.
Color as Architecture
Matisse built compositions from flat, unmixed cadmiums, ultramarines, and viridians, using hue itself—rather than Renaissance perspective—to push and pull space. This structural approach to color prefigures midcentury colorfield painting and even informs today’s clean, high contrast user interface palettes.
Economy of Line
With a single unbroken stroke Matisse could suggest an entire reclining figure or facial profile. That confident brevity resonates in contemporary illustration styles and the minimalist line tattoos now populating social media feeds.
Pattern & Ornament
Drawing on Islamic tile work, African textiles, and French printed cottons, he wove exuberant motifs into interiors and costumes. Fashion houses and wallpaper designers still echo his mashups of global pattern and bright, layered color.
Pochoir Printing
For the Jazz portfolio, hand cut stencils were brushed with opaque gouache to achieve velvety, saturated planes no mechanical process could match. Limited edition screen prints and risograph art borrow this concept, celebrating handmade imperfection within reproducible media.
Matisse’s daring remains everywhere—from brand logos inspired by his cutouts to haute couture collections riffing on his odalisque stripes—proof that his visual language is as contemporary as ever.
Featured Henri Matisse Works at Elliott Gallery
At Elliott Gallery you’ll find three distinct groups of authenticated Matisse prints—each vetted for condition. High resolution images, full condition reports, and framing consultations are provided on request.
Original Lithographs (Plate Signed)
These impressions bear Matisse’s signature on the stone, transferring the autograph directly to every sheet in the edition. Subjects range from mythological figures to the celebrated Nus Bleus series, each print capturing the artist’s confident line at full scale. Notable examples include:
- Poissons Chinois – a pair of lyrical fish studies that showcase Matisse’s flowing contour
- Venus (Nus Bleues) – abstracted female form rendered in lush indigo
- Apollon – the sun god reduced to a single sweeping arc
- Femme – minimalist portrait distilled to essential curves
- Femme Bleue Assise sur Jaune (Nus Bleus) – vibrant interplay of cobalt and canary tones
- La Danse & Zulma – plate signed variations on his iconic dance motif
- Souvenir d’Océanie – cutout inspired swaths of coral, teal, and midnight blue
- A suite of Femme Bleue Assise IIV plus companion prints Femme I, II, III
LimitedEdition Matisse Lithographs
Printed in small, numbered runs, these sheets reveal how Matisse translated his late cutpaper language into buttery lithographic crayon. Each work offers a museum worthy focal point without the seven figure price tag of a painting. Highlights include:
- Acanthes – swirling leaves in saturated greens
- Baigneuse dans les Roseaux – bather emerging from reeds in flowing contour
- Coquelicots – poppies rendered with Fauvist intensity
- Femmes et Singes – playful dialogue between figures and monkeys
- La Piscine – dynamic swimmers looping across the sheet in cerulean arcs
- Les Acrobats – gravity defying figures staged against flat color fields
- Vigne – lyrical vine motif echoing his Nice period interiors
- Femme Bleue et Verte (Nus Bleus) – dual tone exploration of figure and ground
- Nuit de Noël, Rosace, and Woman with Amphora and Pomegranates – rare late lithographs prized for their festive palettes
Vintage Artin Posters (1945 -1953)
These large format exhibition sheets—designed by Matisse or under his close supervision—were originally pasted in Parisian streets to announce shows. Today they are collectible graphic works that bring midcentury art history straight to your wall. Available posters include:
- Exposition d’Affiches (1952) & Exposition de Dessins (1945)
- Henri Matisse (1950) solo exhibition announcement
- Jazz (1945) – the famed cutout silhouette reimagined for poster format
- Les Peintres Témoins de leur Temps – group show curated by Matisse
- Madame de Pompadour – archival orange and black design
- Papiers Découpés (1953) & Oeuvres Récentes (1949)
- The Sculpture of Matisse (1953) & Travail et Joie (1948)
Whether you’re drawn to the direct touch of a plate signed lithograph, the jewel like color of a limited edition, or the bold graphic punch of a vintage poster, Elliott Gallery offers a curated path into collecting one of modern art’s true giants.
Matisse & the Spirit of New Orleans
New Orleans and Matisse share an exuberant chromatic vocabulary: shotgun houses painted coral and chartreuse, brass bands weaving syncopated rhythm, Mardi Gras masks echoing his cutout shapes. Collecting Matisse here feels like a cultural reunion—European modernism meeting Crescent City joie de vivre.
Shared Inspirations
- Music: The visual staccato of jazz mirrors second line parades.
- Theater: Carnival costuming resonates with his circus silhouettes.
- Light: Gulf sunlight, like Mediterranean glare, intensifies every pigment.
Why Collect Henri Matisse Prints?
Owning a Matisse print lets you bring a touch of modern‑art history into everyday life without the multimillion‑dollar price tag of a painting. Limited editions, vibrant palettes, and proven market demand make his works both visually rewarding and financially resilient additions to any collection.
Enduring Market Strength
At Christie’s 2018 Rockefeller sale, Odalisque Reclining with Magnolias set an $80.7 million record. Individual Jazz sheets now command $400k + for pristine impressions, signaling robust global demand.
Scarcity & Authenticity
Strict edition sizes under 300 prints, combined with Matisse’s personal oversight of color, secure longterm value. Elliott Gallery provides full documentation, including catalog ueraisonné numbers and prior ownership history.
Cultural Capital
Displaying a Matisse print communicates discerning taste to guests, clients, or patrons—an instant conversation catalyst about modern art’s evolution.
Plan Your Visit to Elliott Gallery
Address: 540 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Mon–Thurs 10 AM–5 PM | Fri-Sun 10 AM–6 PM
Contact & Inquiries
Call 504-523-3554 or email ArtSales@ElliottGallery.com for pricing, provenance, or framing advice.
Ready to Begin Your Matisse Journey?
Whether you seek a single lyrical etching or a comprehensive portfolio, our advisors offer tailored guidance and museum level expertise. Drop by the gallery, schedule a virtual tour, or request a digital catalogue—let’s place a piece of modern art history in your collection today.