Henri Matisse (1869-1954), French artist, painter, and sculptor, was one of the most important influencers and innovators of early 20^th century modern art.

In researching Matisse online, I found so much excellent material that I could not possibly do him justice by giving you a 1000-word summary. Instead, I am providing you a curated group of links to the best of the best articles and videos I came across, as well as some public domain (in the US) images of some of his pieces.

Archival footage of Matisse at work:

And a fascinating one-hour BBC documentary, Becoming Matisse:

I recently discovered, though, that the works I most associate with Matisse, the ones with colorful leaf and petal shapes, are not actually paintings but cut-outs of painted paper.

This article describes Matisse’s cut-out process.

Navigate through these images of Matisse’s cut-outs by using the arrows in the lower right corner of the screen.

Matisse’s final project was building a chapel. To get the full effect, visit it in person. The second-best experience would be to peruse these four links:

• His design preparation for a stained glass window.
• Photos of the interior and the vestments Matisse created.
• The emotional impact the chapel had on an art critic who visited.
• Some more interior and exterior views.