Becoming Matisse

On the 150th anniversary of thepainter Henri Matisse (1869-1954), the Musée Matisse inCateau-Cambresis, which was founded by the artist in his hometown in1952, pays tribute to the lesser-known man of the North, who became oneof the greatest masters of the 20th century.

You thought you kneweverything about Matisse's work? This exhibition reveals the mystery ofthe first 20 years of his career and the awakening of a genius movingfrom shadow to light. It honours his early works from the revelation ofpainting, and his academic training until the end of his academicstudies in Paris, where he taught until 1911.

This decisive anddefining period of his identity helps us to understand how he grew into apainter on his Hauts-de-France lands. It dissects the creative processof the man copying the ancients, drawing inspiration from the greatestmasters of the past and his contemporaries, to shake the codes with'luxury, calm and voluptuousness' and impose himself on the rank ofthose he has contemplated.

Text in English and French.