Matisse Arabesque

Matisse Arabesque offers a glimpse into the innumerable cultural, anthropological, ethnic and artistic contaminations in the work of Henri Matisse. Curator Ester Coen selected one hundred works by the artist, which are shown alongside works and objects from different historical periods and lands, many of which from the Pigorini Museum in Rome. Kimonos, porcelain, tapestries and carpets, textiles, costumes, African masks and more, the visual universe of Matisse. The arabesque, a type of textile design, is its archetype. It originates with a family of weavers. Its most important collectors are the textile merchants of Imperial Russia. A section of the exhibition is devoted to dance, often a subject of some of the artist's most famous paintings. Matisse is known to have said: “The arabesque is organized like music”. In his simple and expressive drawings, like Two Women, female portraits and nudes become arabesque, ornaments.