Henri Matisse Understanding Modern Art

Few artists in art history have had such a wide ranging impact on art and culture as the French painter Henri Matisse. His distinctly colourful style and often quite experimental works caught the attention of many collectors and critics and made him, alongside Picasso, one of the most well known and influential artist’s of the early 20th century. Matisse’s work is quiet interesting in many regards but one I wish to draw attention to today is his constant pushing against paintings tendency to represent it’s subjects realistically. Inspired by the Impressionist and post impressionist painters who had sought new ways to paint reality before him Matisse would devise his own painting methods that went even further in a search of what he termed “an art of Balance Purity and Serenity“ This search would lead Matisse to create bright and colourful works that over the course of his career would push the boundaries of representation further than ever before in search of a deeper