10 Interesting Facts About Henri Matisse 

Do you want to learn interesting facts about Henri Matisse?

Henri Émile Benoît Matisse, commonly known as Henri Matisse, was born on New Year’s Eve of 1869. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential 20th-century artists from France.

Matisse is admired by his contemporaries because he influenced the development of contemporary art and colorism through his wealth of innovative ideas. Woman with a Hat is one of his most recognizable works and is often credited with launching the Fauvism artistic movement (1905).

RELATED READ:

• 29 Famous French People That You Should Know
• 11 Famous French Painters You Should Know

Find out more about him as this article tells you more interesting information about Henri Matisse.

10 Interesting Facts About Henri Matisse 

1. Before becoming an artist, Henri worked as a Court Administrator

Would you believe that being an artist wasn’t Henri’s first job? A trivia about Henri Matisse is he worked as a court administrator before becoming a painter. He studied law in 1887, and after passing the bar in 1888, he started working as a court administrator in a commune in France, the Le Cateau-Cambrésis.

But Henri’s love for art was fated for him. Before his work, Henri would attend drawing classes at Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts.

2. Henri’s illness altered his life and career

At the age of twenty, Henri suffered an acute appendicitis and needed temporary bed rest.  After being off at school for some time, his mother Anna Heloise gave him art supplies so he could have fun while recovering. 

Henri enjoyed the freedom that art brought him. He was able to find a new passion that allows him to be free and creative.

After being fully recovered, Henri Matisse made a firm decision of becoming an artist. However, his father didn’t agree with his decision at first.

3. Henry Matisse is the father of ‘Fauvism’ 

One of the common fun facts about Henri Matisse is being known as the father of ‘Fauvism’. Fauvism is the first avant-garde art movement characterized by vivid colors that flourished in Paris during the 20th century.

Henri Matisse and the French painter Andre Derain both made significant contributions to the development of the modern art movement with their distinct artistic styles. Matisse was categorized as a Fauvist due to his use of simplified lines, flat patterns, and deep color in his art.

4. Matisse invented a unique way of painting with scissors

The scissors technique that Matisse invented was revolutionary in the history of painting. It started when Matisse was diagnosed with abdominal cancer in 1941.

He underwent surgery but was bedridden for three months. Matisse wasn’t able to move freely like before, so he thought of a new way that would allow him to create art even though he is in a wheelchair.

Matisse painted papers and cut them into pieces to create art on the walls. With the help of his assistants, he used the papers to create works of decoupage art in the form of flora, animals, and shapes.

5. Matisse’s favorite genre of music is jazz

Another interesting information about Henri Matisse was his favorite genre of music. Matisse loved jazz music because according to him, both jazz music and his art have similarities. 

The beat and profound meaning of jazz perfectly complemented his methodical and precise approach to his artistic practice.  His love for jazz music also influenced his 1947 painting, which he called ‘Jazz.” Jazz became one of the best-loved artworks during the 20th century.

6.  He had an uneasy relationship with Pablo Picasso

A love and hate-relationship was the best description of Matisse and Picasso’s friendship. The two first met in the apartment of an American novelist and art collector, Gertrude Stein. 

Similar to the beginnings of many other friendships, Matisse and Picasso weren’t fond of each other at first. Pablo Picasso was Matisse’s junior and eleven years younger than him.

Even though Matisse and Pablo didn’t like each other at first, they respect and appreciate each other’s work which led to them having a lifelong friendship eventually. 

In terms of the nature of painting, Picasso drew from imagination while Matisse drew from nature.

7. Henri Matisse was influenced by the African art

The next trivia about Henri Matisse is his love of African art. He was introduced to the art of Africa when he purchased a Vili figure from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  During this historical period, many artifacts from Africa, including sculptures, relics, and fabrics, are transported to France as a result of French colonial activity.

The African figure that Matisse bought prompted a shift in his perspective on art and served as inspiration for his subsequent creations.

As a result of his ability to create paintings and sketches influenced by African art, he was able to have a significant impact on the artistic community of the early 1900s. One of the artists he influenced was his friend, Pablo Picasso.

Picasso incorporated elements of African art into his work, which ultimately led to the development of the artistic movement known as “cubism,” which was a  creative way to depict reality.

8. Matisse once lived at the Hotel Biron. 

Hotel Biron now known as Musee Rodin was once the residence of Henri Matisse. Matisse lived there between 1906 and 1916 with other French artists including Jean Cocteau and Auguste Rodin.

However, Rodin took over the entire house and was converted into Musée Rodin after his death. The museum now is one of the most visited places in Paris that is filled with Rodin’s arts and collections.

 Meanwhile, after Rodin took over Hotel Biron (Musee Rodin), Matisse moved to Nice and continued to create artworks through the 1920s. During his time there, he was able to produce portraits and interiors that were well-regarded.

9. Matisse is also an animal lover

Aside from being an artist, Matisse also adores animals. In fact, he had cats and birds as pets. He would purchase birds, especially doves, from the vendors along the banks of the Seine.

He would purchase five to six birds every time he passed by the banks of the Seine River. His love of doves was evident in many of the cutouts that he created.

In addition, just before he passed away, Matisse gifted some of his most treasured birds to his close friend Pablo Picasso, who, like Matisse, had a passion for birds such as pigeons and canaries. One of Picasso’s paintings in which birds were the subject was the ‘Dove of Peace’ (1949).

10. Henri Matisse daughter was a French Resistance leader

Among other facts stated above, one of the fun facts about Henri Matisse that will allow you to discover one of his inspirations in his art is he had an only daughter named Marguerite. Camille Joblaud, Henri’s girlfriend, gave birth to Marguerite Matisse in 1894.

Henri Matisse adored his daughter and portrayed her in his artworks many times. His 1916 artwork, “Marguerite with Black Velvet Ribbon,” is one example.

The story behind Marguerite’s black ribbon on his neck began after suffering from diphtheria when she was six years old. Since then, Marguerite started wearing a ribbon or high-necked clothing to hide his scar. 

Another portrait Matisse made for his daughter was the 1910 painting “Marguerite au Chat Noir,” or “Margaret with Black Cat”. The painting was exhibited at the Secession show in Berlin and the Armony Show in 1913.   However, Matisse kept the artwork in his possession until he died in 1954.

Moreover, Marguerite was a strong and courageous woman. She became a French Resistance leader during World War II. But she was arrested and tortured in 1945 by Gestapo- a secret police force of Nazi Germany.

But after she was captured, Marguerite managed to escape and continued to live until 1982. Marguerite died at the age of 87 due to a heart attack.