Henri Matisse Biography

My name is Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse and I am a French artist, known for many things, like the way I use colour and fluid and draughtsmanship. I was not only just a draughtsman but, I was also a printmaker, and sculptor as well, but most people just know me as a painter. (“Henri Matisse, Wikipedia”)

Early Years and Education

I was born on December 31, 1869, in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France. After the war of 1871 my family and I moved to Bohain-en-Vermandois, France. My father was a corn merchant, and my mother was an amateur painter. When I was young I worked as a legal clerk and then studied for a law degree in Paris to please my father. When I returned from Paris, my father got me a position for the law office in the town of Saint-Quentin,

My mother was the one who got me interested in art. I first started to paint after she brought me few art supplies. I discovered "a kind of paradise" with drawing,something that I enjoyed greatly to do. So I decided to become an artist. But in my father's eyes, it was a disappointment . ("Henri Matisse Biography, Notablebiographies.com") (Bio.com)

So in 1891, I decided to move to Paris for artistic training to help me improve my artistic ability. I took a lot of instruction and criticism from famous artists from well known schools such as the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts. For these schools, it required working from live models and copying the works of Old Masters. In 1898, I go advice from Camille Pissarro, and went to London to study the paintings of J. M. W. Turner. After I

Although I was more interested in Cubism, I rejected it, and instead, decided to use color as the foundation for a more expressive, decorative, and more monumental paintings. “I sought out to create an art that would be a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather than like a good armchair. In my art, I always tried to use more pure colors and the white of exposed canvas to create a light-filled atmosphere in my Fauve paintings. Rather than using modeling or shading to show volume and structure in my pictures, I actually used contrasting areas of pure, unmodulated color.” The most common figure I used in my work was the naked human body, not just in my sculptures but also in my paintings as well. What was most important for my Fauvist work was to reflect my feelings so that the subject that has been neglected in Impressionism, will continue to be important. Most of my work reflects the mood and personality of my models, but I mostly used them merely as vehicles for my own feelings. “The term "fauve" is french for "wild beast," stated by art critic Louis Vauxcelles in reaction to my work and other artists of what became known as the Fauvist Movement in France.” He gave me this name because I used many bright colors, unfettered brush strokes and simple matter of my artwork, which made it appear wild and free, and also animal like. Though the movement itself only