Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist that was mainly known for his use of colour and his originality and fluency within the art of draughtsmanship. He was born on December 31 1869 and he died on November 3 1954. Matisse was a draughtsman, sculptor, and a printmaker but is known primarily as a painter. Commonly, Matisse, along with Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, is regarded to be one of the three artists who were involved in defining the developments in the plastic arts. Although Matisse was initially labelled a Fauve (wild beast), within the 1920s due to his handwork he was increasingly praised and soon recognised as an upholder of the classical tradition in French painting. Matisse's ability to express the language of colour and drawing was displayed within his work which lasted for over half a century and this enabled him to be seen as a leading figure in modern art. 

Matisse was the older son of a prosperous grain merchant and was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, in the Nord department in northern France. He grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois, Picardie, France. During 1887 Matisse studied law in Paris and worked as a court administrator in Le Cateau-Cambrésis after his qualification had been secured. 2 years later he then started to paint, after his mother brought him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of appendicitis. Matisse deeply disappointed his father with his decision to be a painter. This decision was made after he described painting to be " a kind of paradise". In 1891 Matisse became a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau whilst studying art at the Académie Julian. Matisse was influenced and inspired by the works of previous artistic icons such as Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Nicolas Poussin, and Antoine Watteau, and by Japanese art. Matisse classed Chardin as his most admired artist and he also made copies of four of Chardin's paintings. 

During 1869 and 1897 Matisse was introduced to impressionism by John Peter Russel. Russell also introduced Matisse to Van Gogh due to the fact that they were friends although Van Gogh was unknown at the time. Matisse later on said "Russell was my teacher, and Russell explained colour theory to me."

Matisse's work:

 This oil painting by Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat, is a great example of Fauvism.

The design for a stained-glass window, which was Matisse's final piece before he died, is placed at the Union Church of Pocantico Hill near the Rockefeller estate north of New York City. Matisse did in 1954 bu his final piece was fully installed in 1956.

Matisse's cause of death was a heart attack and he is buried in the cemetery of the Monastère Notre Dame de Cimiez.