Exhibition Examines Matisse's Creative Process

Despite the elegant and seemingly effortless aura surrounding the paintings of Henri Matisse, a new exhibition exploring the artist's creative process shows how hard he labored to create his images of peaceful grace.

Published

6 months ago

Categories

Arts & Society

People

Henri Matisse

Places

United States of America, New York City, New York

Transcript

Strikingly similar, these two works by French master Henri Matisse illustrate the painter's effort to perfect his art. They are part of an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art called 'Matisse: In Search of True Painting'. Curator of contemporary and modern art, Rebecca Rabinow. SOUNDBITE: Rebecca Rabinow, curator of contemporary and modern art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, saying (English): "Unbeknownst to most people he was always pushing his art. Painting didn't come easily and so he used repeated images to push his painting in new directions - he would compare and contrast - and that is really what the focus of this exhibition is." By contrasting works Matisse did in a series, the exhibition tries to explore his working methods as he developed an idea over time. SOUNDBITE: Rebecca Rabinow, curator of contemporary and modern art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, saying (English): "What we hope is that people can compare them. It's not necessarily a 'Where is Waldo' comparison where he's moved an orange a centimeter to the left, but it's really about how he's applying color. You can compare how he's rendering light coming in from a doorway, coming in from a window." Matisse also wanted to demystify and share his creative process. The exhibition includes the artist's 1945 display in a Paris gallery. Matisse placed a finished work alongside photographs of the painting's previous stages, showing the complexity behind his process. The 49 works which make up 'Matisse: In Search of True Painting' will be on display until March 17, 2013.