Henri Matisse

Artist Biography

Henri Matisse is one of the most influential artists of the Twentieth Century; his stylistic innovations, along with those of his friend and rival Pablo Picasso, profoundly altered the course of modern art.

Matisse was classically trained in Paris but his desire to experiment and explore artistic processes and styles led to a career that can be divided into several periods that changed stylistically but his underlying aim always remained the same: to discover "the essential character of things" and to produce an art "of balance, purity, and serenity".

Matisse's vast oeuvre encompassed a diverse range of media and his varied subjects comprised landscape, still life portraiture, interiors and particularly focused on the female figure.

Available Work

Themes and Variations

“Themes and Variations” is a suite of lithographs completed by Matisse between 1941 and 1943. The prints are typical of Matisse’s figurative work featuring the female form and arrangements of flowers and fruit.