WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 Welcome to The Deep Dive, the show that extracts 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:04.660 the revolutionary insight from your source material, 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:08.179 offering you a shortcut to being instantly well 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:11.099 -informed. Today, we are taking an immersive 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:14.320 plunge into the extraordinary life and work of 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.160 Henri Matisse. And when you talk about 20th century 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:19.679 visual art, the conversation, well, it almost 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.140 always starts with two names, Pablo Picasso and, 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:24.820 of course, Henri Matisse. Right. Matisse in particular 00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:27.640 is just one of the definitive figures. He's responsible 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.079 for these revolutionary developments in painting 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.820 and sculpture, drawing. He effectively charted 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:35.759 the course for the next half century of visual 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.060 aesthetic. Absolutely. And our mission today 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:41.520 is to follow a man who. really against all odds 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.380 and all expectations, just constantly reinvented 00:00:44.380 --> 00:00:46.700 himself. A few times over. We're tracing the 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:49.359 path of a wealthy grain merchant's son who starts 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:51.759 out as a law student, of all things, and then 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.159 transforms from this meticulous traditional copyist. 00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:57.960 The ultimate conformist. Exactly. Into a wild 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.840 beast of color. And then, after surviving cancer 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:03.619 and war, he finishes his career as a wheelchair 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:07.420 -bound master, creating these monumental, joyous 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:10.709 works with only scissors and paper. It's a journey 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:13.510 of, what, three profound transformations? At 00:01:13.510 --> 00:01:15.909 least. And that half -century trajectory really 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:19.290 underlines his defining identity. His core contribution, 00:01:19.349 --> 00:01:22.049 I think, remains his innovative, expressive use 00:01:22.049 --> 00:01:23.989 of color. Oh, without a doubt. He learned to 00:01:23.989 --> 00:01:26.290 wield it with the precision of a master surgeon. 00:01:26.569 --> 00:01:29.150 And then there's his incredibly fluid original 00:01:29.150 --> 00:01:31.760 draughtsmanship, whether he was... working in 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:34.500 painting, printmaking, sculpture, or collage. 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:37.040 He was always exploring that purest possible 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:39.459 relationship between line and color. Okay, so 00:01:39.459 --> 00:01:41.719 let's unpack this. We have to start where, you 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.140 know, no great revolutionary ever should, in 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:46.620 the dull precision of the French legal system. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.280 Henri -Emile Benoit Matisse was born in northern 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.579 France, Le Cateau Cambresi, on the very last 00:01:51.579 --> 00:01:54.859 day of 1869. And the expectation from his father, 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:57.400 who was a successful grain merchant, was, well, 00:01:57.540 --> 00:01:59.939 it was simple. Stability. Stability and convention. 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:03.340 That meant a solid education and a proper, respectable 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:05.900 career. And he followed that track, didn't he? 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.219 I mean, quite diligently. He moves to Paris in 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:12.259 1887 to study law. He qualifies, and then he 00:02:12.259 --> 00:02:14.240 goes back north to work as a court administrator. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:16.800 You just have to pause and imagine that. The 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.580 father of Fauvism, the man who would tear up 00:02:19.580 --> 00:02:22.659 the entire rulebook of color, spending his days 00:02:22.659 --> 00:02:25.740 managing paperwork and enforcing rules in a provincial 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:28.860 court. Right. The sheer psychological contrast 00:02:28.860 --> 00:02:32.159 between that starting point and, say, his final 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:36.030 cutouts is. It's just staggering. It is. And 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:38.090 that structured, almost obsessive nature, that 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:40.949 commitment to process, it never really left him. 00:02:41.009 --> 00:02:44.250 But the legal detour, it ended abruptly and fortunately 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:48.509 for art history in 1889. The appendicitis. He 00:02:48.509 --> 00:02:50.789 suffered from appendicitis. And during his convalescence, 00:02:50.830 --> 00:02:53.469 his mother brought him some art supplies, a beginner's 00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:55.669 painting box, just to keep him occupied while 00:02:55.669 --> 00:02:58.469 he recovered. And that right there is the discovery 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:01.060 of. A kind of paradise, as he later called it. 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:03.180 That's the moment. He picks up the brush and 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:05.759 the entire trajectory of his life changes. He 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:08.219 decides then and there he's going to be an artist. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:11.240 A decision which, you know, naturally brought 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.039 profound disappointment to his very conventional 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:18.199 father. Of course. That tension between his early 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.759 conformity and his later radicalism is, I think, 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:24.500 really key to understanding his discipline. And 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:27.319 despite the radical choice. His initial path 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:29.780 was rigorously traditional. I mean, he spent 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:32.360 years in the formal French academy system. He 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.770 wasn't just whimming it. Not at all. first at 00:03:34.770 --> 00:03:36.729 the Academy Julian under the highly conservative 00:03:36.729 --> 00:03:39.889 William Adolph Bouguereau, and later at the prestigious 00:03:39.889 --> 00:03:42.250 École Nationale des Beaux -Arts under Gustave 00:03:42.250 --> 00:03:45.210 Moreau. This was not a quick dive into the avant 00:03:45.210 --> 00:03:48.750 -garde. It was a slow, traditional climb. And 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:51.210 his early works, they really reflect this foundation. 00:03:51.569 --> 00:03:54.050 He wasn't immediately experimenting. He was mastering 00:03:54.050 --> 00:03:56.409 the language of the past. It's well documented 00:03:56.409 --> 00:03:58.550 that he spent a huge amount of time in the Louvre, 00:03:58.610 --> 00:04:01.810 copying four works by Jean -Baptiste Simeon Charnin, 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:04.590 the 18th century master of... still life. And 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:07.689 that focus on Chardin shows this real admiration 00:04:07.689 --> 00:04:11.569 for detail and for structure. But his education 00:04:11.569 --> 00:04:14.229 didn't stop there. He studied Poussin for classical 00:04:14.229 --> 00:04:17.449 composition, Watteau for elegance, and Manet 00:04:17.449 --> 00:04:20.149 for, you know, modernizing the canvas. And of 00:04:20.149 --> 00:04:22.569 course, the Japanese art. Crucially, he absorbed 00:04:22.569 --> 00:04:25.089 Japanese art, which would later have a massive 00:04:25.089 --> 00:04:27.529 influence on his flattening of perspective. But 00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:30.189 the greatest conceptual leap came from Paul Cezanne. 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:33.980 We often talk about color with Matisse, but the 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:36.540 source material really highlights that Cézanne's 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:39.480 sense of pictorial structure was his main inspiration. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.199 It was. So what did he take from Cézanne that 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:44.199 wasn't just surface technique? Well, Cézanne 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:46.480 was trying to find the underlying geometry and 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.959 architecture of nature. He didn't just paint 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.139 apples. He painted the sphere, the cone, the 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:53.480 cylinder. The forms beneath the surface. Exactly. 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:56.860 For Matisse, this provided the intellectual scaffolding 00:04:56.860 --> 00:04:59.040 he needed. He realized that structure didn't 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.959 have to mean detail. It meant organization. And 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:03.959 this foundation of rigorous structure is what 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:06.680 allowed him later on to be so expressive with 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:09.079 color without collapsing into total chaos. He 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.180 understood the rules. He understood the rules 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:13.879 before he broke them. And that structural curiosity 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:16.120 leads us directly to the great color revelation 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.819 of 1896. He's already working, but he's still 00:05:19.819 --> 00:05:22.480 using a fairly dark sort of earth toned palette. 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:25.000 Very traditional. Then he travels to Belle Isle 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.660 off the coast of Brittany and meets the Australian 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:31.759 painter John Russell. This encounter is. It's 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.620 perhaps the single most transformative non -family 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:37.720 relationship in his entire life. Russell was 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:40.360 connected to the true radicals of the time. He 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:42.259 was friends with Van Gogh, wasn't he? Close friends 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.000 with Vincent Van Gogh. He actually gave Matisse 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.500 a Van Gogh drawing. Wow, imagine the impact of 00:05:47.500 --> 00:05:49.699 that. Yeah. Holding a piece of raw, explosive 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:51.779 Van Gogh energy when you're still thinking in 00:05:51.779 --> 00:05:54.300 browns and grays. Right. And Russell didn't just 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:56.920 introduce him to Impressionism. He directly taught 00:05:56.920 --> 00:05:59.639 him color theory. Matisse later credited Russell 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.500 as his real teacher in color. And his style just 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:05.000 changed completely. He abandoned the somber palette 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.000 entirely for bright, unmodulated tones practically 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.720 overnight. It wasn't just a whim, though. No, 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.519 it was a technical shift toward neo -impressionism, 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:17.100 or divisionism. Russell was explaining how to 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:20.220 use pure color and let the viewer's eye mix it 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:23.490 optically. Like pointillism. Very similar. This 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:25.509 technique, the short, controlled application 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:28.629 of dots or dashes of color, is visible in his 00:06:28.629 --> 00:06:31.170 early bright works. It shows that structured 00:06:31.170 --> 00:06:34.589 approach to radical color use. He exhibits five 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:37.050 of these brighter pieces that year, and two are 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:39.410 immediately purchased by the state. So there 00:06:39.410 --> 00:06:41.550 was validation early on. Proof that the shift 00:06:41.550 --> 00:06:44.050 was noticed and validated, yes. So he's having 00:06:44.050 --> 00:06:46.949 this moment of artistic validation, but his personal 00:06:46.949 --> 00:06:49.839 life is... Well, it's getting more complex. He 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:51.980 already has a daughter, Marguerite, from an earlier 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:55.980 relationship. In 1898, he marries Emilie Noelle 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.439 Pereira, and they have two sons, Jean and Pierre, 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.779 and they raise Marguerite together. Emilie and 00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:02.660 Marguerite became his frequent models, sort of 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:05.139 stabilizing the home front as he faced the chaos 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:07.339 of the art world. They provided that foundation, 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:10.420 but soon that foundation came under immense strain. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.240 Matisse went into considerable debt, partly because 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:15.420 he was investing what little money he had into. 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:19.600 Masterpieces he couldn't afford. A Rodin, a Gauguin, 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.240 and that crucial Cezanne III bathers, all of 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.639 which he had to sell years later. But the real 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:29.060 crisis hit around 1902. The Humbert Affair. Which 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:31.439 wasn't just a private financial setback. It was 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:34.800 a huge public scandal. Precisely. It was a notoriously 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.899 complex and sensational swindle in France. The 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:40.339 Humbert family defrauded scores of people out 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:42.680 of millions of francs by claiming to possess 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:46.439 a fabulous secret inheritance kept locked in 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.689 a safe. And this somehow entangled Amelie's parents. 00:07:50.189 --> 00:07:52.889 It did. They were essentially scapegoats or secondary 00:07:52.889 --> 00:07:55.569 participants. But the resulting public shame 00:07:55.569 --> 00:07:58.350 and the sheer weight of financial ruin left the 00:07:58.350 --> 00:08:00.870 family completely devastated. And the practical 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:03.110 consequence was that Matisse, the struggling 00:08:03.110 --> 00:08:04.970 artist whose career was just starting to turn 00:08:04.970 --> 00:08:08.149 bright, suddenly became the sole desperate breadwinner 00:08:08.149 --> 00:08:10.350 for seven people. It's a pressure cooker environment. 00:08:10.550 --> 00:08:12.870 And that stress, that need to provide for a large 00:08:12.870 --> 00:08:15.689 family amid public notoriety, it forces him to 00:08:15.689 --> 00:08:18.050 make another tactical retreat. It's a fascinating 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:20.550 sort of counterintuitive move. It really is. 00:08:20.709 --> 00:08:24.170 Between 1902 and 1903, the man known for pure 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:27.490 color adopted a somber, dark, and form -focused 00:08:27.490 --> 00:08:30.470 style. Why? Art historians believe this was a 00:08:30.470 --> 00:08:32.690 conscious effort to produce works that were more 00:08:32.690 --> 00:08:34.889 conventional and therefore more saleable. He 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:36.330 was just trying to pay the bills. He was trying 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:39.070 to pay the bills. He also focused intensely on 00:08:39.070 --> 00:08:41.590 sculpture during this time, completing The Slave 00:08:41.590 --> 00:08:45.049 in 1903. This is the structuralist, practical 00:08:45.049 --> 00:08:48.789 side of Matisse showing through. He adapts his 00:08:48.789 --> 00:08:51.470 aesthetic goals to immediate material necessity. 00:08:51.909 --> 00:08:54.389 You have to wonder how profoundly that threat 00:08:54.389 --> 00:08:56.850 of financial ruin and the need for saleability 00:08:56.850 --> 00:08:59.450 shapes the work of an artist whose signature 00:08:59.450 --> 00:09:02.289 contribution will be pure radical color. Well, 00:09:02.370 --> 00:09:04.190 it taught him resilience and gave him a clear 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:06.809 focus. When he finally returned to radical color, 00:09:06.929 --> 00:09:08.809 it wasn't out of some frivolous experimentation. 00:09:09.029 --> 00:09:11.710 No, it was an informed choice. A deliberate artistic 00:09:11.710 --> 00:09:14.629 stance. The brief return to earth tones just 00:09:14.629 --> 00:09:16.429 serves as a reminder that this revolutionary 00:09:16.429 --> 00:09:19.289 lived a very grounded, anxious life. And that 00:09:19.289 --> 00:09:21.529 grounded anxiety didn't hold the color back for 00:09:21.529 --> 00:09:24.629 long. The period of financial stress gives way, 00:09:24.789 --> 00:09:27.909 almost violently, to the explosion of color that 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:30.330 defines the first great modern movement he led. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:34.419 Fauvism. Fauvism, meaning wild beasts, was a 00:09:34.419 --> 00:09:36.940 movement built on the rejection of that restrictive 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:39.759 application of color theory we saw in Neo -Impressionism. 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:42.659 He'd done that, and now he was moving on. Right. 00:09:42.860 --> 00:09:45.620 Matisse and Andre Duran were the undisputed leaders. 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.259 While the Sialistic origins were around 1900, 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.440 the key explosive period was very, very short, 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:55.340 1904 to 1908. The initial steps were a bit hesitant, 00:09:55.419 --> 00:09:58.559 though. His first solo exhibition in 1904 at 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.330 Ambroise Villard's gallery. It didn't really 00:10:01.330 --> 00:10:03.529 land. No, but then comes the transformational 00:10:03.529 --> 00:10:06.570 summer of 1904. Ah, in St. Tropez. He spends 00:10:06.570 --> 00:10:08.590 that summer painting in St. Tropez alongside 00:10:08.590 --> 00:10:11.210 the neo -impressionists Paul Signac and Henri 00:10:11.210 --> 00:10:13.570 Edmond Cross. This isn't just a vacation. It's 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:15.990 another deep immersion in structured color application. 00:10:16.250 --> 00:10:18.970 And that results in luxe, calme volute. Exactly. 00:10:19.870 --> 00:10:23.830 Luxury, calm, and pleasure. Visually, you can 00:10:23.830 --> 00:10:27.070 still see the influence of divisionism, the controlled 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.750 dots of pure color. But the subject matter is 00:10:29.750 --> 00:10:32.450 already classical and decorative, anticipating 00:10:32.450 --> 00:10:35.509 his later nice period. But the real launch, the 00:10:35.509 --> 00:10:37.149 big bang that put him in the movement on the 00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:41.350 map, was the 1905 Salon d 'Automne. This is one 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:43.529 of the most famous moments of critical hostility 00:10:43.529 --> 00:10:45.970 in all of art history. It was an incredible spectacle. 00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:48.649 Matisse exhibited the open window and the sensational 00:10:48.649 --> 00:10:51.350 woman with a hat. A portrait of his wife, Amélie. 00:10:51.669 --> 00:10:54.049 Yes, and these works were defined by areas of 00:10:54.049 --> 00:10:57.409 pure, shocking, unmixed color greens, yellows, 00:10:57.409 --> 00:11:00.830 blues, used not to describe nature, but to express 00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:03.850 feeling and structure. And the critic Louis Vassell, 00:11:03.970 --> 00:11:05.750 walking through the room filled with these paintings, 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:08.690 he sees a traditional, tame, Renaissance -style 00:11:08.690 --> 00:11:10.929 sculpture in the center. Right. And he utters 00:11:10.929 --> 00:11:13.830 the unforgettable phrase. Donatello chez le fauve, 00:11:13.929 --> 00:11:16.570 Donatello among the wild beasts. The name stuck, 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:19.009 instantly defining the movement. And the critics 00:11:19.009 --> 00:11:22.080 were just in open revolt. The reaction was visceral. 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:26.159 The art was called grotesque, savage. One famous 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.820 critic declared, a pot of paint has been flung 00:11:28.820 --> 00:11:31.000 in the face of the public. They just saw anarchy. 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.480 Total anarchy. It's hard for us now, you know, 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.820 we're a colletum to abstraction. But to grasp 00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:40.559 how truly shocking it was for color to be completely 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.600 liberated from the local color of the object 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.330 was, it was a huge deal. But the critical shaming 00:11:47.330 --> 00:11:50.009 was immediately mitigated by some very powerful 00:11:50.009 --> 00:11:53.350 validation. The Steins. Gertrude and Leo Stein, 00:11:53.590 --> 00:11:55.809 the great American patrons in Paris, recognized 00:11:55.809 --> 00:11:58.409 the revolutionary quality immediately. And they 00:11:58.409 --> 00:12:00.809 bought Woman with a Hat. And that purchase was 00:12:00.809 --> 00:12:03.309 just crucial, wasn't it? Absolutely. To be denounced 00:12:03.309 --> 00:12:05.950 so publicly and then championed privately by 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:08.750 such sophisticated collectors, it gave Matisse 00:12:08.750 --> 00:12:10.570 the morale and perhaps more importantly, the 00:12:10.570 --> 00:12:12.889 financial runway he needed to continue the experiment. 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:15.610 It signaled that this wasn't just madness. It 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:17.610 was the next frontier. What's fascinating is 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:19.450 that even at the height of all that controversy, 00:12:19.789 --> 00:12:21.590 there were people who recognized the underlying 00:12:21.590 --> 00:12:24.509 structure. The poet and critic Dioma Pollinare 00:12:24.509 --> 00:12:27.250 called Matisse's art eminently reasonable in 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:30.820 1907. He saw the logic beneath the wild colors. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.899 And the tension between wildness and reason persisted. 00:12:34.139 --> 00:12:37.139 Even after Fauvism formally dissipated as a movement, 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:39.799 his works continued to cause an uproar abroad. 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:44.639 Oh, yes. Take The Blue Nude from 1907. When it 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.860 was exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show in Chicago, 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:49.379 it was so reviled that it was symbolically burned 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:52.200 in effigy by students. Burned in effigy, years 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.279 after he painted it, he was still the international 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:57.419 flashpoint for modern art. He was, and Fauvism 00:12:57.419 --> 00:12:59.700 as a collective movement declined quickly after 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:02.879 about three major shows. But Matisse's personal 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.919 trajectory certainly didn't slow. He entered 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.259 a period from 1906 to 1917 where he developed 00:13:09.259 --> 00:13:11.779 an even more rigorous, maybe cubist -influenced 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:14.600 style, emphasizing flattened forms and decorative 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:16.700 patterns. And this is where that contradiction 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:18.779 between the radical art and the artist's lifestyle 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:21.460 becomes so prominent. It really does. He was 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:23.740 physically active in the vibrant, often chaotic 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:26.169 Montparnasse scene. but he held himself apart. 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:29.210 He maintained this fastidious, almost boringly 00:13:29.210 --> 00:13:31.830 conservative appearance suit and tie, beard neatly 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:34.570 trimmed, and kept strict bourgeois work habits. 00:13:34.809 --> 00:13:37.889 He was the antithesis. of the bohemian stereotype 00:13:37.889 --> 00:13:40.830 completely yet he was creating the most radical 00:13:40.830 --> 00:13:44.210 art in paris and that rigor was essential because 00:13:44.210 --> 00:13:47.009 his work was now being driven not just by formal 00:13:47.009 --> 00:13:49.909 experimentation but by his absorption of global 00:13:49.909 --> 00:13:53.529 non -western influences he started traveling 00:13:53.529 --> 00:13:56.490 widely bringing the exotic back into his studio 00:13:56.490 --> 00:13:58.710 the first major influence came from his trip 00:13:58.710 --> 00:14:02.429 to algeria in 1906 this is where he began studying 00:14:02.429 --> 00:14:05.710 african art and primitivism which deeply influenced 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:07.830 the way he treated the human body, stripping 00:14:07.830 --> 00:14:10.429 it back to essential, powerful forms. You can 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:13.549 see it so clearly in New Blue. Then, around 1910, 00:14:13.629 --> 00:14:16.049 the emphasis seems to shift to pattern and color 00:14:16.049 --> 00:14:18.549 geometry. That's right. He viewed a major exhibition 00:14:18.549 --> 00:14:20.809 of Islamic art in Munich, which was a revelation 00:14:20.809 --> 00:14:22.990 for him, and then he traveled to Spain for two 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:25.289 months to study Moorish architecture and decoration. 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:27.870 The Islamic influence is so critical, isn't it? 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:30.669 It provided him with a system of decorative abstraction. 00:14:31.169 --> 00:14:34.789 He realized that pure non -representational patterns 00:14:34.789 --> 00:14:37.389 could convey a sense of depth, rhythm and life 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:39.990 without needing traditional perspective or shading. 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:42.590 This is where the term decorative stops being 00:14:42.590 --> 00:14:44.649 an insult and becomes a serious artistic tool 00:14:44.649 --> 00:14:47.330 for him. And these influences all culminated 00:14:47.330 --> 00:14:49.570 in his highly productive and significant trips 00:14:49.570 --> 00:14:53.230 to Morocco in 1912 and 1913. So what were the 00:14:53.230 --> 00:14:55.370 specific artistic shifts that came out of those 00:14:55.370 --> 00:14:58.059 Moroccan journeys? They led to a dramatic new 00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:01.000 boldness. He started applying intense, unmodulated 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.519 color, meaning flat, pure swaths of paint. And 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:06.980 critically, he incorporated black as a color. 00:15:07.139 --> 00:15:09.860 That's a huge shift. Before this, black was often 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.440 used for outline or for shadow. For Matisse, 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.259 black became an active, light -absorbing, balancing 00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:17.379 element in its own right. He treated it with 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:19.799 the same respect as a vibrant red or a deep blue. 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:22.659 You can see this boldness in masterpieces like 00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:25.720 Le Tellier Rouge from 1911, which is just a stunning 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:28.620 example of monochrome color used to create structure. 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:31.200 And Morocco also cemented some of his recurring 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:34.779 themes. The odalisques. those reclining women 00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:37.740 set in orientalist interiors, and the introduction 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:39.980 of the goldfish in aquariums. Which became a 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:41.980 kind of symbol for him. A symbol of a tranquil, 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.539 self -contained world. It reappeared throughout 00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:47.720 his career. And this global expansion and artistic 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.519 consolidation perfectly aligned with his relationship 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:52.639 with one of the most forward -thinking collectors 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.600 of the time. Sergei Shukin, the Russian textile 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:58.720 magnate. He was arguably the most loyal and important 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.460 early patron. And that relationship led to one 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.769 of his most significant creations. The two -painting 00:16:04.769 --> 00:16:08.009 commission, La Danse, The Dance, and its companion 00:16:08.009 --> 00:16:12.090 piece, Music, both completed in 1910. These are 00:16:12.090 --> 00:16:14.409 just monumental works. They were designed for 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:17.389 Shukin's grand Moscow staircase. La Danse depicts 00:16:17.389 --> 00:16:20.009 five nude figures dancing in a circle, and it's 00:16:20.009 --> 00:16:21.929 filled with this incredible sense of frantic, 00:16:21.929 --> 00:16:24.350 raw energy. Using only three colors. Just three. 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:26.870 The green of the earth, the blue of the sky, 00:16:27.049 --> 00:16:29.320 and the reddish -orange of the bodies. It's an 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.740 ultimate simplification, a powerful expression 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:34.519 of primitive joy. And music, the companion piece, 00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:37.480 it provides the necessary counterpoint. It does. 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:40.100 Instead of frenetic movement, you have five figures. 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:42.980 Completely static, almost meditative playing 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:45.980 instruments. The contrast between the sheer energy 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:49.620 of the dance and the profound calm of music demonstrates 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:52.899 his capacity for both the decorative and monumental. 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:55.899 All financed by a Russian collector who trusted 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:58.539 his radical vision completely. That trust and 00:16:58.539 --> 00:17:00.919 that support system were so vital. And it brings 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.379 us to the two key elements of the Parisian art 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:06.039 world during this period. The patronage networks 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:09.640 and, of course, the inescapable rivalry with 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.980 public. The rivalry with Picasso, who was 11 00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:15.819 years his junior, it's legendary. They were lifelong 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:17.920 friends, often trading works and visiting each 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:20.380 other's studios. But their competitive spirit 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:23.000 drove so much of 20th century innovation. It 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:25.119 really did. If we unpack their fundamental difference. 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:28.230 What really stands out? I think the key is observation 00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:31.109 versus invention. Matisse remained fundamentally 00:17:31.109 --> 00:17:34.309 tethered to nature and observation. Even when 00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:36.390 he simplified a figure, he drew from a model. 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:38.910 His art always started from a visible reality. 00:17:39.349 --> 00:17:42.509 Whereas Picasso... Picasso, by contrast, worked 00:17:42.509 --> 00:17:45.549 primarily from imagination, from invention and 00:17:45.549 --> 00:17:48.470 intellectual conception. He took the visual world 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:50.930 and radically reinterpreted it internally before 00:17:50.930 --> 00:17:53.630 he ever presented it. And that difference... 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.900 shaped their shared subject matter. Both of them 00:17:56.900 --> 00:18:00.319 painted women and still lives incessantly. Right, 00:18:00.460 --> 00:18:03.140 but Matisse tended to integrate his figures and 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:06.299 objects into these richly patterned, fully realized 00:18:06.299 --> 00:18:09.180 interiors where the wallpaper and the background 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:11.700 are just as vital as the figure itself. And Picasso 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:14.000 was more likely to just strip the figure bare 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.039 or explode it across the canvas, making the figure 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.000 itself the universe. Exactly. They both pushed 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.099 the boundaries of abstraction through simplification. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.400 When Picasso developed cubism, Matisse responded 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:27.720 not by imitating it, but by doubling down on 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.420 flatness and structure, creating works like The 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:32.440 Red Studio. So they were always in dialogue. 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:34.599 Always looking over their shoulders, challenging 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:36.400 each other's breakthroughs. And the people who 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:39.059 financed this rivalry were often the same core 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:41.900 group of American patrons in Paris, specifically 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:45.720 the Steins. Gertrude, Leo, Michael, and Michael's 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:48.420 wife Sarah. They weren't just buyers, they were 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:51.559 cultural gatekeepers. Gertrude Stein famously 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:53.779 attributed the launch of her famous Saturday 00:18:53.779 --> 00:18:56.859 evening salons, which became the epicenter of 00:18:56.859 --> 00:18:59.380 modernism, to Matisse. That's right. She said 00:18:59.380 --> 00:19:01.440 people initially came just to see his paintings 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.720 after the 1905 scandal, and eventually her living 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.980 room became the hub where collectors, critics, 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:10.319 and artists all mingled. Sarah Stein in particular 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:12.839 was intensely focused on collecting Matisse. 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:15.920 But the true bulk buyers. The financial stabilizers 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.880 for both Matisse and Picasso were the Cohn sisters 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:21.619 from Baltimore. Claribel and Etta Cohn. They 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:24.380 were phenomenal. Incredibly smart, somewhat eccentric, 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:26.859 and absolutely committed to the avant -garde. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.099 And they acquired hundreds of works. Hundreds 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:31.579 of works by Matisse and Picasso, often buying 00:19:31.579 --> 00:19:33.599 directly from the artists during their periods 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.640 of intense need. That collection is now the bedrock 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.420 of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Their early and 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:41.660 sustained belief provided Matisse with immense 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:44.519 financial and psychological stability. It's interesting 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:47.220 that despite all his success and notoriety, Matisse 00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:50.019 was also dedicated to instruction. He created 00:19:50.019 --> 00:19:53.460 the Academy Matisse. Yes, between 1907 and 1911, 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.640 his friends and patrons, including the Steins, 00:19:56.740 --> 00:19:59.359 actually financed and organized this private, 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.000 non -commercial school. He was instructing young 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.859 artists, reinforcing that for Matisse, radical 00:20:04.859 --> 00:20:07.700 expressive color was never divorced from disciplined 00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:10.349 draftsmanship. Freedom is only possible through 00:20:10.349 --> 00:20:12.789 mastery. A powerful statement about his philosophy, 00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:14.910 exactly. And of course, that continuing Russian 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:17.329 connection with Shukin provided him the opportunity 00:20:17.329 --> 00:20:20.799 to work on a grand... monumental scale. Shukin's 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.140 support meant Matisse could experiment with size 00:20:23.140 --> 00:20:25.980 and complexity in a way most contemporary artists 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:28.440 simply couldn't. It wasn't just about selling 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:30.440 a canvas. It was about creating environmental 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:34.119 decorative pieces that redefined space. That 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:36.559 capacity to conceive of art as an environment 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.039 is something that surrounds and envelops the 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.519 viewer. It's a critical takeaway that really 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:45.420 foreshadows his final great period. That monumental, 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:48.599 structured period then gave way to a geographical 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:52.960 and stylistic shift in 1917 when Matisse relocated 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.819 to Simier, a suburb of Nice on the French Riviera. 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:59.259 And this move marked a definite relaxation and 00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:02.349 softening in his work. It's important to contextualize 00:21:02.349 --> 00:21:04.970 this, though. After the immense trauma of World 00:21:04.970 --> 00:21:07.890 War I, there was a widespread European artistic 00:21:07.890 --> 00:21:11.210 impulse for a return to order. Artists across 00:21:11.210 --> 00:21:14.549 disciplines like Picasso and Stravinsky embraced 00:21:14.549 --> 00:21:17.769 neoclassicism, seeking stability and recognizability. 00:21:18.109 --> 00:21:20.569 And for Matisse, this translated into his popular 00:21:20.569 --> 00:21:24.269 Orientalist Odelies paintings, replete with sumptuous 00:21:24.269 --> 00:21:26.849 interiors, geometric patterning, soft light. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:28.920 They were immensely popular and commercially 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.019 successful, but they did draw some criticism. 00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:33.220 Some critics dismiss them as just decorative. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.700 Indeed. They claim they lacked the intellectual 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:38.500 rigor of his pre -war work, but that, I think, 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:40.519 misses the point of his commitment to the decorative. 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:43.279 How so? He was upholding the classical French 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.099 tradition of figure painting, but using his unique 00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:48.859 understanding of pattern and space. The use of 00:21:48.859 --> 00:21:51.579 elaborate screens, patterned fabrics, and the 00:21:51.579 --> 00:21:53.579 intense heat of the Mediterranean sun allowed 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:56.380 him to explore the structural use of light and 00:21:56.490 --> 00:21:59.430 rhythm in a way that defied simple realism. So 00:21:59.430 --> 00:22:01.309 they aren't just pretty. Not at all. They are 00:22:01.309 --> 00:22:04.250 meticulously structured studies in interior spatial 00:22:04.250 --> 00:22:07.710 relationships. Yet after 1930, we see another 00:22:07.710 --> 00:22:11.150 shift, a new vigor and a bolder simplification. 00:22:11.650 --> 00:22:14.609 He pulls away from the lush details of the odalisques 00:22:14.609 --> 00:22:17.809 towards starker, flatter forms. That new energy 00:22:17.809 --> 00:22:19.950 was largely driven by the massive commission 00:22:19.950 --> 00:22:22.309 he received from Albert C. Barnes for the Barnes 00:22:22.309 --> 00:22:24.809 Foundation in Pennsylvania. The mural, The Dance 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:28.559 2. Yes, completed in 1932. The sheer scale, 45 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.759 feet by 15 feet, forced him to simplify his forms 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.440 drastically, using the flat, unmodulated areas 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:36.660 of color that were necessary for such a huge 00:22:36.660 --> 00:22:39.420 architectural piece. And this need for precision, 00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:42.359 even in simplification, is evidenced by the documentation 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:44.740 we have of his process. I'm thinking of the large 00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:48.190 reclining nude in 1935. The 22 progressive photographs 00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:51.970 he took, yes. He meticulously tracked every stage 00:22:51.970 --> 00:22:54.430 of the painting's evolution and sent them to 00:22:54.430 --> 00:22:57.539 his patron, Etta Cohn. That detailed documentation 00:22:57.539 --> 00:23:00.240 is just incredibly telling. It completely debunks 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:03.240 the idea that his simplification was lazy or 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:05.779 merely decorative. It shows an artist obsessed 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:08.480 with the process of achieving the perfect, final, 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:12.380 simplified form. Every line, every shape was 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:14.799 rigorously interrogated and adjusted through 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:18.140 22 different iterations. And this period of intense 00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:20.940 creative output suddenly collided with immense 00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:23.599 personal and political upheaval leading into 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:28.460 World War II. Alone is, well, it's a lot. It 00:23:28.460 --> 00:23:31.880 was high drama. In 1939, after 41 years of marriage, 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:34.859 his wife, Amelie, divorced him. And this was 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:36.779 fueled by her suspicion that he was involved 00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:39.619 with his young Russian emigre companion, Lydia 00:23:39.619 --> 00:23:42.240 Delektorskaya. Yes, and the fallout was shocking. 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:44.779 Delektorskaya attempted suicide. She shot herself 00:23:44.779 --> 00:23:47.619 in the chest. Unbelievable. Miraculously, she 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:49.680 survived without serious long -term injury and 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:51.559 returned to Matisse's side. But she didn't just 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:54.220 return as a companion. No, she became his true 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:57.279 collaborator and indispensable assistant. She 00:23:57.279 --> 00:23:59.920 ran his entire household, managed his complex 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:02.680 business dealings, kept his extensive records, 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:05.420 and crucially, assisted him daily in the studio. 00:24:05.740 --> 00:24:07.960 She provided the necessary structure for the 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:10.160 aging master to continue his creative freedom. 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:12.940 And then came the invasion of France by the Nazis 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:17.400 in June 1940. Matisse was in Paris, but he returned 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:20.880 to Nice. in what became Vichy France. His son 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:23.039 Pierre, who was running a successful gallery 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.380 in New York, begged him to leave Europe. He wanted 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:29.400 him to flee to Brazil. But Matisse was adamantly 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:32.140 principled in his refusal to leave. His reasoning, 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:34.440 which he expressed to Pierre in September 1940, 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:38.039 frames his decision as patriotic and deeply personal. 00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:42.799 He said, If everyone who has any value leaves 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:45.619 France, what remains of France? He chose to stay, 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:47.960 even under occupation, aligning himself with 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:50.220 the fate of his country. This decision cemented 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:52.319 his status as a national figure, but it placed 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.359 him in a morally ambiguous position regarding 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:56.670 the occupied art world. The Nazis deemed his 00:24:56.670 --> 00:24:59.170 work degenerate art, yet he was allowed to exhibit. 00:24:59.329 --> 00:25:02.250 It was a complex political reality. While the 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:04.710 Nazis were aggressively purging degenerate artists 00:25:04.710 --> 00:25:08.230 and art in Germany, they were comparatively more 00:25:08.230 --> 00:25:10.809 lenient in occupied Paris. A form of cultural 00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:13.690 appeasement. Exactly. So Matisse, along with 00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:16.089 other former Fauves and Cubists, could exhibit, 00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:18.839 but there was a moral price. All Jewish artists 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.599 were purged, and non -Jewish French artists had 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.900 to sign an oath confirming their Aryan status 00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:26.420 to exhibit publicly. And Matisse was among those 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:28.920 who signed? He was, which allowed him to continue 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:31.299 working while others suffered. But while Matisse 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:33.740 maintained a somewhat isolated artistic life, 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:37.380 dedicated to work, his family was plunging headfirst 00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:40.079 into the dangerous world of the resistance. Their 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:43.160 involvement was profound and just harrowing. 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:46.880 His son, Pierre, used his New York gallery to 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.220 actively aid Jewish and anti -Nazi artists escaping 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:52.720 occupied France. He organized that legendary 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.920 Artist in Exile exhibition in 1942. He did. And 00:25:56.920 --> 00:26:00.200 back in France, his estranged wife, Amélie, worked 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.480 as a typist for the French underground and paid 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.059 a heavy price. She was jailed for six months. 00:26:05.299 --> 00:26:06.980 And then there's his daughter, Marguerite. Her 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:10.680 story is just almost beyond belief. She was intensely 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:13.480 involved in the resistance, arrested and then 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:15.940 tortured almost to death by the Gestapo in a 00:26:15.940 --> 00:26:19.359 Wren prison. Her resilience is astonishing. She 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:21.339 was sentenced to the horrors of the Ravensbrück 00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:24.200 concentration camp. But she escaped. In a moment 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:27.779 of high cinematic drama, yes. While being transported 00:26:27.779 --> 00:26:30.160 on a train to Ravensbrück, the train was stopped 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:33.000 during an Allied air raid. She seized the moment, 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.519 jumped from the train, and survived by hiding 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:37.460 in the woods. And she was eventually rescued 00:26:37.460 --> 00:26:39.779 by fellow resistance fighters. In the closing 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:42.839 days of the war, it's a stark, powerful realization. 00:26:43.339 --> 00:26:45.559 While Matisse sought sanctuary in his studio, 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:49.000 his entire personal world was consumed by the 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:52.019 brutal reality of occupation and sacrifice. This 00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:54.440 period of confinement. both the country's confinement 00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:57.119 under occupation and the trauma inflicted on 00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:59.779 his family, it serves as the emotional and psychological 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:03.819 backdrop to his final, miraculous, artistic reinvention. 00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:06.140 That wartime period and the family's subsequent 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:08.599 trauma directly preceded the physical collapse 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:11.740 that forced his final artistic shift. In 1941, 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:14.720 Matisse was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:17.559 underwent major surgery. He survived, but the 00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:19.759 complications left him permanently reliant on 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:23.140 a wheelchair, often confined to his bed. Conventional 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:25.420 painting and sculpture were now physically impossible. 00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:28.500 And this physical necessity led directly to the 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:32.039 genesis of the cutouts, or decoupage. This wasn't 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:34.059 just finding a substitute, it was discovering 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:36.819 a whole new world. With the help of indispensable 00:27:36.819 --> 00:27:40.000 assistants like Lydia Delektorskaya, he developed 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:43.559 this new art form. The process was simple, but 00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:54.579 revolutionary. And he would then, using long 00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:57.180 -handled scissors while seated or in bed, cut 00:27:57.180 --> 00:27:59.519 them into shapes. These shapes were then arranged 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:01.680 and pinned onto the wall, forming compositions. 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:04.779 He described this period, despite his confinement, 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.559 as his second life. I love that quote. He said 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.539 this medium allowed him to wander through gardens 00:28:10.539 --> 00:28:13.119 in the form of his cutouts. It's an incredibly 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:15.740 poetic description of turning physical limitation 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:18.200 into ultimate creative freedom. And the results 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:21.079 were utterly distinct. This medium is not quite 00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:24.299 painting, but not quite sculpture. It's a synthesis. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.160 It's painting because it uses color and composition. 00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:29.720 But it's sculpture because the colors are defined 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:32.279 by the physical edge of the cut paper existing 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:34.559 in relief against the wall. He was essentially 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.920 drawing with scissors, allowing the negative 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:39.559 space of the wall to become as vital a compositional 00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.339 element as the positive shapes he cut. It's true 00:28:42.339 --> 00:28:44.519 that the technique had some utilitarian origins 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:47.180 much earlier. Oh, yes. The first recorded use 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:50.400 was in 1919 when he used cut paper designs to 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:53.220 plan the decor for Igor Stravinsky's opera Le 00:28:53.220 --> 00:28:56.000 Chant de Rossignol. He also used them between 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:00.039 1937 and 1938 for preparatory work on sets and 00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:02.279 costumes for the Ballet Russes. So they were 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:04.420 initially just planning tools, a means to an 00:29:04.420 --> 00:29:07.119 end. Exactly. But the necessity of his physical 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:09.380 condition transformed the technique from utility 00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:12.599 into his primary mode of expression. The first 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.420 major independent project was his female artist's 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:18.900 book, Jazz, published in 1947. Jazz consisted 00:29:18.900 --> 00:29:22.019 of 20 striking, vibrant plates designed using 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:24.279 the cutout method. and while they were initially 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:27.579 conceived as designs for stencil prints the process 00:29:27.579 --> 00:29:29.839 itself proved so exhilarating that by the time 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:32.799 he wrote the introduction in 1946 he had realized 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:35.680 the profound possibilities of the medium this 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:38.359 realization gave birth to one of his most powerful 00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:41.400 philosophical statements from the period an artist 00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:43.930 must never be a prisoner of himself Prisoner 00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:46.210 of style, prisoner of a reputation, prisoner 00:29:46.210 --> 00:29:48.210 of success. He was literally cutting himself 00:29:48.210 --> 00:29:50.849 free from his own legacy as a painter. And that 00:29:50.849 --> 00:29:53.230 intellectual freedom led to a dramatic increase 00:29:53.230 --> 00:29:56.910 in scale. The cutouts became monumental. The 00:29:56.910 --> 00:29:59.630 series of works he created in 1946, like Ocean 00:29:59.630 --> 00:30:02.250 of the Sky and Ocean of the Sea, were mural -sized. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:04.960 And these pieces, evoking the plant and animal 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.680 life of the Pacific, were directly inspired by 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:10.299 his earlier trip to Tahiti, showing how his whole 00:30:10.299 --> 00:30:13.180 life's visual catalog was now feeding this final 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:15.779 medium. It's said that Lydia, his assistant, 00:30:16.019 --> 00:30:18.039 would essentially direct his paper symphony, 00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:21.220 loosely pinning the silhouettes, the birds, the 00:30:21.220 --> 00:30:23.460 marine vegetation, the stylized figures onto 00:30:23.460 --> 00:30:26.000 the walls of his room, turning his studio into 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.799 a giant, constantly changing, immersive environment. 00:30:29.230 --> 00:30:31.809 One particularly famous piece, the sheaf from 00:30:31.809 --> 00:30:35.269 1953, showing a bundle of stylized leaves, was 00:30:35.269 --> 00:30:37.589 even adapted to ceramic for American collectors, 00:30:37.930 --> 00:30:40.569 further blurring the lines between media. The 00:30:40.569 --> 00:30:43.529 final great artistic and spiritual consolidation 00:30:43.529 --> 00:30:46.609 of this cutout method was the Chapelle du Rosaire 00:30:46.609 --> 00:30:49.269 de Vence, the Chapel of the Rosary, which he 00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:52.849 worked on between 1948 and 1951. This was a deeply 00:30:52.849 --> 00:30:55.680 personal project. Conceived and designed in honor 00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:58.000 of his former wartime nurse, Monique Bourgeois, 00:30:58.220 --> 00:31:01.079 who had since become a Dominican nun. This wasn't 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:03.140 just a painting project. It was total design. 00:31:03.460 --> 00:31:05.680 He designed the entire environment. The stained 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:08.420 glass windows, the murals depicting the stations 00:31:08.420 --> 00:31:11.700 of the cross, the priest's chasuables, the tabernacle 00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:14.720 door, all planned meticulously using the cutout 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:17.019 method as the maquette stage. And he created 00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:19.440 one of the most serene and vibrant sacred spaces 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:22.220 of the 20th century. Using his most radical late 00:31:22.220 --> 00:31:24.950 career technique. The windows, designed using 00:31:24.950 --> 00:31:27.390 simple, powerful shapes of blue, yellow, and 00:31:27.390 --> 00:31:30.269 green, just flood the interior with pure, joyful 00:31:30.269 --> 00:31:32.609 light, the ultimate synthesis of his lifelong 00:31:32.609 --> 00:31:35.029 obsession with color. He completed his final 00:31:35.029 --> 00:31:37.970 painting in 1951, and his final sculpture was 00:31:37.970 --> 00:31:40.630 finished the year before. Until his death in 00:31:40.630 --> 00:31:45.150 1954, the paper cutout was his sole focus. His 00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:47.809 absolute final work was the design for a stained 00:31:47.809 --> 00:31:50.170 glass window for the Union Church of Pocantico 00:31:50.170 --> 00:31:52.670 Hills near the Rockefeller Estate north of New 00:31:52.670 --> 00:31:55.279 York. David Rockefeller confirmed that the maquette 00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:57.279 for that very window was hanging on his bedroom 00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:59.519 wall when he died. It was installed posthumously 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:02.579 in 1956. Even on his deathbed, the last thing 00:32:02.579 --> 00:32:04.740 Matisse was reaching for was light, structure 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:06.900 and pure color. The institutional recognition 00:32:06.900 --> 00:32:09.500 was swift. The Matisse Museum was established 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:13.279 in his birthplace. Le Cateau, in 1952, two years 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:16.039 before his passing. And the Municipal Musée Matisse 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:18.380 in Nice, where he spent his final productive 00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:21.980 years, opened in 1963 and holds one of the world's 00:32:21.980 --> 00:32:24.319 largest collections of his work. Henri Matisse 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:26.440 died of a heart attack at the age of 84 on November 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:30.319 3, 1954, and is buried in Nice. But his influence 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:31.859 flows directly into the heart of the American 00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:34.460 art market, thanks to his son. Pierre Matisse. 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:37.000 His son established his modern art gallery in 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.940 New York City in 1931, operating it for nearly 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:43.400 six decades until 1989. And this gallery was 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:45.859 an absolutely vital bridge between the European 00:32:45.859 --> 00:32:48.180 avant -garde and the American collecting public. 00:32:48.420 --> 00:32:51.900 A huge bridge. He exhibited major European artists 00:32:51.900 --> 00:32:55.119 like Joan Miró, Marc Striol, Alberto Giacometti, 00:32:55.180 --> 00:32:57.700 and Jean Dubuffet, often introducing them to 00:32:57.700 --> 00:33:00.319 the U .S. for the very first time. The Matisse 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:03.960 legacy extended beyond creation and into curation. 00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:06.700 And while the artistic legacy is one of light 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:09.599 and joy, we do have to briefly acknowledge the 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:12.349 shadows of history that still affect his provenance, 00:33:12.369 --> 00:33:15.859 the issue of Nazi -looted art. Right. This is 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:18.259 an ongoing, painful process that underscores 00:33:18.259 --> 00:33:20.819 how political turbulence permanently scars art 00:33:20.819 --> 00:33:23.819 history. During the Nazi years, numerous artworks 00:33:23.819 --> 00:33:26.859 by Matisse were seized, looted from Jewish collectors, 00:33:27.140 --> 00:33:29.900 or sold under duress. We've seen some significant 00:33:29.900 --> 00:33:32.380 restitutions in recent years. Works like Limer 00:33:32.380 --> 00:33:34.779 Rose were returned from France's Pompidou Museum 00:33:34.779 --> 00:33:37.420 to the heirs of its rightful owners. Even pieces 00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:39.579 discovered in the famous Munich art horde, like 00:33:39.579 --> 00:33:41.920 Femme Assise, have these complicated, troubled 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:44.799 provenance dating back to the war. German Lost 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:47.480 Art Foundation currently lists 38 artworks by 00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:50.119 Matisse in their database. So the work of tracking 00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:52.180 down and returning these masterpieces continues 00:33:52.180 --> 00:33:55.279 today. It does. And finally, let's close with 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.759 the perfect anecdote that encapsulates the legacy 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:00.359 of a man who constantly challenged the foundations 00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:03.220 of perception right up until the very end. Here's 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:05.980 where it gets really interesting. In 1961, seven 00:34:05.980 --> 00:34:08.639 years after his death, one of his famous gouache 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:12.670 cutouts, Le Bateau de Boat, from 1954, was hung 00:34:12.670 --> 00:34:15.690 in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It was 00:34:15.690 --> 00:34:19.230 mistakenly displayed upside down. Wait. A major 00:34:19.230 --> 00:34:21.670 work by Henri Matisse, one of the twin pillars 00:34:21.670 --> 00:34:24.530 of 20th century art, hanging in the Museum of 00:34:24.530 --> 00:34:26.969 Modern Art, the global temple of modernism, was 00:34:26.969 --> 00:34:30.670 upside down? For how long? 47 days. 47 days. 00:34:30.869 --> 00:34:33.690 Almost seven full weeks passed before an astute 00:34:33.690 --> 00:34:36.269 observer realized the work was oriented incorrectly. 00:34:36.710 --> 00:34:38.349 So what does that mean for the legacy of Henri 00:34:38.349 --> 00:34:40.610 Matisse? I think it means that his final art, 00:34:40.730 --> 00:34:43.469 born from confinement and necessity, achieved 00:34:43.469 --> 00:34:46.090 a level of pure abstraction and structural liberation 00:34:46.090 --> 00:34:49.130 so profound that the traditional rules of up 00:34:49.130 --> 00:34:51.989 and down, right and wrong, just, they ceased 00:34:51.989 --> 00:34:54.679 to apply. He liberated color and form completely. 00:34:54.920 --> 00:34:57.420 He didn't just redefine painting. He redefined 00:34:57.420 --> 00:34:59.460 the fundamental relationship between the viewer, 00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:02.579 the shape, and the canvas, forcing us to constantly 00:35:02.579 --> 00:35:05.699 question what we think we know. A legacy so powerful, 00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:08.980 they named a crater on Mercury after him in 1976. 00:35:09.579 --> 00:35:12.000 From provincial court administrator to a named 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:14.000 feature on another planet, what a deep dive. 00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:15.039 Thank you for joining us.