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In the brilliant light of his final years, Matisse invented a new language: that of cut-out shapes and pure color. More than 230 paintings, drawings, books, and gouache cut-outs trace, between 1941 and 1954, the journey of an artist who was free and in constant motion.
The exhibition Matisse. 1941–1954 sheds light on the final years of Henri Matisse's career, between 1941 and 1954, through more than 230 works—including paintings, drawings, gouache cut-outs, illustrated books, textiles, and stained glass—drawn from the Centre Pompidou collection and major international loans. It reveals the multidisciplinary nature of his practice during this period while bringing together an exceptional ensemble of gouache cut-outs. At nearly 80 years old, Matisse reinvented himself with the gouache cut-out, a medium he elevated into an autonomous plastic language, free and capable of reaching the universal through its simplicity. Well-suited both for reproduction and for monumental commissions, this technique allowed him to fully express the decorative dimension of his art. The exhibition demonstrates how painting remained at the heart of his approach, far from being superseded by the cut-outs; on the contrary, it unfolded with ever greater space, intensity, and color. Among the essential bodies of work featured in the exhibition are the masterful and final series of Interiors of Vence (1947–1948), the Jazz album, the Themes and Variations series and brush-and-ink drawings; the principal elements of the Chapelle de Vence program; the monumental panels La Gerbe and Les Acanthes; and, as a culminating highlight, exceptionally brought together, the large figures in gouache cut-outs: The King's Sorrow, Zulma, The Creole Dancer, and the famous Blue Nudes. Conceived as a journey through the painter's universe, the exhibition recreates the vibrant atmosphere of his constantly evolving studio. An invitation to discover Matisse's flourishing "garden," room by room.
Price: From €0 to €19. Reservations open from January 19, 2026.
Source: paris.fr — photo: Service de la documentation photographique du MNAM - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI