The French artist, Henri Matisse (1869-1954), who made the sensuous pleasures of body and soul his source of inspiration while others were shattering reality into cubist planes and surreal meltdowns during the years between the wars, did one better during the seemingly endless days of crisis when World War II enveloped his homeland.

By that time he had removed his household from Paris to Nice. By that time an old man in his 70s, he sought to find new methods and materials to continue his work as an artist. Uncomfortable standing at the easel for hours on end, he came up with a new way to realize his ideas; in the process he invented something entirely new in art, later coined “cut-outs.”

Opening Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art, Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is an explosion of color, beauty, and the extraordinary intelligence of an artist who embraced his personal limitations in order to advance his art and the legacy of his era.

The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Tate Modern (where it proved to be the museum’s most popular show ever, drawing more than 560,000 visitors during the 5-month run), opens Sunday at MoMA.

In addition to the more than 100 works, including an installation of the newly restored Swimming Pool murals [row 3 below] in a gallery that replicates the dimensions of the dining room in Matisse’s home for which it was originally created, in 1952, are films shot in his studio during the creation of some of these works; and a video detailing the extraordinary means through which the Swimming Pool murals were restored.

Included here are some of my photos from the preview this week; there will be more about this exhibition in DART as the show continues. For now, please take note of the incredible list of public programs through this link. Special preview hours [no sign-up for timed visits] are available to members through Saturday, with member early hours for the run of the show. Information.

Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs, opens Sunday, October 12,continuing through January 12, at The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53^rd Street, NY, NY. Timed tickets are required and can be purchased online. Information. Visit the MoMA Matisse: The Cut-Outs website.

The fully illustrated catalogue presents approximately 150 works in a groundbreaking reassessment of the artist’s colorful and innovative final years. Presenting the cut-outs in all of their vibrancy and luminosity, this catalogue includes new research by curators and conservators, and many period photographs showing the works in process in Matisse’s studios. Information.
Photos: Peggy Roalf