Henri Matisse, The Snail (1953), via Art Observed
There’s a moment at the end of Henri Matisse’s landmark exhibition of his late “cut-out” works, currently on view at MoMA in New York, when the viewer emerges into the last room to view Matisse’s final canvases, immense explosions of color and form that immediately arrest the viewer with their dynamic, minimal surfaces. (more…)
Henri Matisse, Memory of Oceania, (1952-1953) via Museum of Modern Art
Currently on view at London’s Tate Modern, Henri Matisse’s vivid cut-outs reveal the final chapter in Matisse’s career: when he began ‘carving into color’, as the artist was known to describe his spectacular cut-outs, a vastly divergent and fascinating point in the artist’s career.
The Tate Modern in London has announced its plans for a show of the final works completed by Henri Matisse. Slated for Spring of 2014, the show will feature 120 pieces by the artist, primarily using his large-scale, cut-out technique, including his famous Blue Nudes. “They are more like installations or environments than paintings; and they seem very contemporary now. Part of the point of the show is to reconsider them in this light,” said Tate curator Nicholas Cullinan. “They were a way of collapsing line and colour; at the same time they were a kind of sculpture – carving into pure colour.” (more…)
