‘Henri Matisse: Dessins. Themes et Variations’ Rare book or time machine?

It’s not unusual for a book to show the expanse of an artist’s work but Henri Matisse: Dessins. Themes et Variations, published in 1943 and limited to 950 copies offers something more intimate. Dessins. Themes et Variations is a portfolio of drawings consisting of 158 plates produced in lithography and presented on single loose leaf…

Behind the scenes: Matisse ‘The Drawing Room’ 2011

Inspired by the studio interiors and the subject matter used by Henri Matisse throughout his artistic career, GOMA’s iconic Long Gallery has been transformed into an interactive drawing studio and lounge that offers Gallery visitor’s an invitation to create their own art work. The space is broken into series of staged ‘thematic’ tableaux whose content…

Harder than it looks

My line drawing is the purest and most direct translation of my emotion. The simplification of the medium allows that. At the same time, these drawings are more complete than they may appear to some people who confuse them with a sketch. Henri Matisse, ‘Notes of a painter on his drawing’, 1939 Henri Matisse wrote…