The "Matisse: Cahiers d’Art, the Pivotal 1930s" exhibition revisits a decisive decade for the French painter Henri Matisse. Although extremely successful, he had begun to call into question his place on the avant-garde scene. The exhibition traces this soul-searching period that ultimately took him in a new and bold direction.
Although many exhibitions have been dedicated to Matisse (1869 – 1954), very few have focused on the 1930s, a long period of soul searching, in which Matisse trying his hand at experimental drawings, paintings and sculpture.
At the end of the 1920s, “Matisse was going through a creative breakdown, despite being at the height of his career,” curator Cécile Debray told RFI.
What’s interesting is to see a side to an artist we don’t often see,” Debray explains.
“We’re more often likely to see the smooth, polished side of an artist’s work, rather than the turmoil,” she says, adding that Matisse was fond of expressing his artistic process, and didn’t seek to hide the difficulties he had.
The 1930s also holds interesting parallels with the present day, she says. “It’s was period of great complexity, violence and uncertainty,” all themes explored in Matisse’s works.
Behind the scenes
His artistic rebirth was documented in detail by the Cahiers d’Art, a magazine created by Christian Zervos in 1926.
“Cahiers d’art played a role in Matisse’s artistic comeback,” Debray says because they showed the “behind the scenes” reportages of the painter’s work in progress.
The original editions of the magazine punctuate the exhibition, providing a guide for the visitor, marking the ebb and flow of Matisse’s career.
Tahiti retreat
He was featured regularly in the publication alongside artists of his time such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Miro, Fernand Léger, Wassily Kandinsky, Mondrian, Le Corbusier and Marcel Duchamp.
Part of getting “back in the avant-garde game” involved a long trip to Tahiti, where he spent time immersing himself in the local culture and admiring the landscape.
Debray points out that he didn’t produce much more than a few sketches and photographs during this time, which turned out to be more like a spiritual retreat.
However, he gathered inspiration for his later works, among them “The Dance”, a giant fresco displayed for an art collector at the Barnes Foundation in the United States from 1933.
His method of painting pieces of paper and adding them progressively to the fresco opened new doors to his technique.
Some works have rarely been exhibited in France, including “Large Reclining Nude” from Baltimore, “The Song from Houston” and the 1938 “Romanian Blouses” series, all held in various American museums.
Matisse. Cahiers d’Art, the Pivotal 1930s” at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris until 29 May 2023.
