Henri matisse biography summary template

Henri Matisse's early paintings included still-lifes in the traditional Flemish style, using a dark palette. His style changed dramatically after he visited Australian painter John Peter Russell on Belle Îsle off the coast of Brittany in 1897 and 1898, where Russell introduced Matisse to the work of then-unknown Vincent Van Gogh.

Other artists influenced Matisse's work, as well.

Henri matisse biography summary template

He experimented with Neo-Impressionist Paul Signac's pointillist technique, which used colored dots to form an image; this led to his masterpiece "Luxe, calme et volupté" [sources: Hughes, Dabrowski]. Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin's symbolic use of color also inspired Matisse.

However, it was Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne's work that influenced Matisse the most; Matisse was deeply affected by Cézanne's "Three Bathers," and he called Cézanne a "god of painting" [source: Matisse]. Matisse admired Cézanne's use of form and space, and his "merit o