Henri Matisse was born in France in 1869. At 20, Matisse was planning to become a lawyer. His studies were interrupted by an attack of appendicitis. During his long convalescence, Matisse began to paint and was encouraged to study art instead.

Matisse wanted to express himself with color and shape rather than with realistic shading and perspective. He liked to reduce complex subjects to their simplest elements using line and shape.

In the final years of his life, Matisse experimented with collage because he could no longer hold a brush or stand at his easel. During this time, Matisse created some of his most vibrant and expressive work simply using brightly colored cut paper pasted on contrasting backgrounds.

Download this free Matisse mini art lesson.

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