Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954

Who Was He? Henri Matisse was a French artist. Matisse liked to use bright colours in his pictures. He also liked to use cut-out shapes.

‘Snow Flowers’ 1951

La Gerbe 1953

‘Les Vegetaux’ and ‘Elements Vegetaux’ 1947

This picture is called Jazz Icarus, what do you think it shows?

The ‘Fall of Icarus’

‘Leaping Figure’ and ‘Falling Figure’

How Did Matisse Make His Pictures? Matisse used cut-out shapes, pure colours and strong patterns in his pictures. Art pictures that are made by cutting out specific shapes and sticking them onto paper or a board are called montages.

Matisse Cutting Out His Shapes

Matisse’s Snail Picture The coloured shapes make a spiral just like the shape of a snail’s shell.

Matisse’s Colours

Making Our Matisse Inspired Montages We will make our own versions of ‘Icarus’ and ‘The Snail. We will use the colour wheel to help us choose the colours that Matisse used in his pictures.

Things You Will Need A sheet of paper Scissors and Glue A colour wheel Coloured paper