Known for his bold use of color and radical approach to composition, Henri Matisse is regarded as one of the artists who transformed the visual language of modern art. He was committed to beauty and emotional expression. Throughout his career, he experimented with Fauvism and explored the human form. Even the restriction of physical activity after a surgery for stomach cancer did not deter him from painting. He dropped his brushes in favor of scissors, which he used to create vibrant paper collages. 

Born on New Year’s Eve in 1869 in northern France, Henri Matisse began painting upon his mother’s encouragement. When he first revealed that he wanted to become an artist, his father was disappointed. However, that did not deter Matisse, and what began as a hobby soon transformed into a profession he practiced for the rest of his life. His paintings welcome viewers into a world of colors, movement, and serenity. Besides their visual appeal, Matisse’s paintings also offer an insight into the evolution of modern art. So, here is a look at 13 of his masterpieces. 

Henri Matisse’s Famous Paintings

1. ‘Woman Reading’, 1894

   
   

In ‘Woman Reading’, Matisse painted a calm scene in which a woman, dressed in black, is so busy reading her book that she is oblivious to the clutter in the room. Notably, there is a self-portrait of Matisse hanging on the wall at the upper left. The painting’s exhibition at the Salon du Champ-de-Mars in 1896 turned out to be Matisse’s first breakthrough with the public. It is currently on display at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

2.  ‘Luxe, Calme et Volupté’, 1904

   
   

During his summer trip to St. Tropez on the French Riviera, Matisse was inspired by the works of Neo-Impressionist painters Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross. Upon returning, Matisse painted ‘Luxe, Calme et Volupté’. Signac was impressed with the artwork and decided to purchase it. This painting was a turning point in the artist’s career because it showed his inclination towards expressive, non-naturalistic use of color and mosaic-like brushstrokes. He used color and form to express his emotions, an approach that laid the foundations for Fauvism. It is on display at Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France.

3. ‘The Open Window’, 1905

‘The Open Window’, also known as ‘Open Window, Collioure’, is another example of the Fauvist painting style that Matisse has become famous for. Painted in 1905, it shows the view from his apartment in the coastal town of Collioure, southern France. The canvas is painted in bright colors, which do not follow natural light logic; instead, they express the artist’s emotional response. It is available for viewing at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

4. ‘Woman with a Hat’, 1905

‘Woman with a Hat’ was another Matisse’s breakthrough into Fauvism. This was one of his famous oil paintings on canvas, a seated half-length portrait of his wife, Amélie Matisse. The size, form, and pose are the kind that are usually seen in a society portrait; the non-naturalistic colors and loose brushwork were revolting in that era. When Matisse first exhibited the painting at the Salon d'Automne in the autumn of 1905, it caused quite a stir among the critics and onlookers. It is now part of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s collection. 

5. ‘Portrait of Madame Matisse’, 1905

   
   

‘The Green Stripe’, also known as ‘The Green Line’, is often simply addressed as the ‘Portrait of Madame Matisse’. It is another classic work from the one of the great portrait artists Matisse, who happened to be her husband. This was a portrait of Amélie Matisse, with a green line running through the middle dividing her face into cool and warm tones. The replacement of traditional light and shadow with color was abstract and unwelcome at the time of its first exhibition, like the other Fauvist paintings. It is currently on display in the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, Denmark.

6. ‘The Joy of Life’, 1906 

   
   

Besides being the greatest Fauvist painting, ‘The Joy of Life’, also known as ‘Le bonheur de vivre’, is also considered one of the first works from the early modernism movement. The painting shows nude figures frolicking around against an Arcadian background. The central background notably features a group of people dancing, similar to his painting, ‘Dance’. Upon its first exhibition in 1906, the painting elicited a massive protest. At the same time, it inspired many of Matisse’s contemporaries & their creations, including Pablo Picasso art. It currently lives at the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania.

7. ‘Dance’, 1909

Russian businessman and art collector Sergei Shchukin commissioned  ‘Dance’, also known as ‘La Danse’. Reflecting calmness and freedom, it shows five loosely drawn human figures, painted in red, dancing freely against a simple background. Many members of the art community were unhappy with the bold use of nudes in this painting, while others were impressed with its simplicity. Over the decades, it became one of Henri Matisse’s most famous paintings. Shchukin endowed ‘Dance’ to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg; its preliminary version is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

8. ‘The Dessert: Harmony in Red’, 1909

‘The Dessert: Harmony in Red’, now simply known as The Red Room, interestingly went through several color transformations. During its first exhibition in 1908, its background was blue, and it was called ‘Harmony in Blue’.  Prior to that, it had featured a green background. When it was re-exhibited in 1909, the background was red as we know it today. The same color of the wallpaper and the tablecloth compels viewers to observe the utter brilliance with which the French artist created the illusion of the surfaces blending seamlessly. 

9. ‘The Conversation’, 1908-1912

   
   

In Matisse’s ‘The Conversation’, he and his wife are chatting in a room with a window that overlooks a garden. The dominant blue background represents the interior of the room and also shows the emotional distance between the partners. Their stiff body language and contrasting attire also provide insight into their tense and formal dynamics. The striped pajamas Matisse is wearing in this artwork were his go-to attire even when he was busy painting. It is now a part of the art collection at The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia.

10. ‘Goldfish’, 1912

Henri Matisse’s ‘Goldfish’ is a post-impressionist painting, which he made after returning from his trip to Morocco. In the painting, several bright orange goldfish are swimming in a round glass bowl that is kept on a table against a background painted in subdued pinks and greens. The goldfish represent peace, contemplation, and stillness, while the surrounding elements appear decorative and flattened. He made several other such paintings of goldfish in aquariums. It is currently on display at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Russia.

11.  ‘The Fall of Icarus’, 1947

    
    

Henri Matisse made ‘The Fall of Icarus’, which featured in his book ‘Jazz’. According to Greek mythology, Icarus flew too close to the sun with his wings of wax and feathers. So, when the wax melted, Icarus fell into the sea. Matisse showed Icarus’s fall through a black silhouette of the figure with flailing limbs and a red dot for a heart, against a dark blue sky scattered with vivid yellow stars. It is on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, UK.

12. ‘Blue Nudes’, 1952

    
    

Henri Matisse’s ‘Blue Nudes’ is a series of lithographs that he created using paper cut-outs. The collages depict solid blue color nude figures in different poses. His favorite pose was the one with the legs intertwined and a hand stretched towards the back. The artist was no stranger to the paper cut-out technique as he had used it for stage sets and costumes until the 1940s. He painted the first ‘Blue Nude’ in 1907. 

13. ‘The Snail’, 1953

    
    

‘The Snail’ or ‘L’escargot’ is another of Matisse’s paper cut-out paintings. It is made from a variety of colorful forms arranged in a swirling, almost geometric pattern. Matisse sketched the snail first and then used colorful paper to complete it. The loose spiral arrangement of the blocks of color used in the painting conveys motion, rhythm, and life. It lives at the Tate Modern Collection in London.