Matisse and his time

The exhibition presents 50 works by the Henri Matisse from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints from the late 19th-century to after the Second World War. These will be shown alongside some 50 works by other great 20th-century artists, including Picasso, Derain, Braque, Mirò and Modigliani, with the intent to show the subtle reciprocal influences, the shared sources of inspiration and a sort of ‘spirit of the time’ that unites Matisse and his contemporaries. The exhibition narrative is organized in ten chronological sections presenting the main figures of the artist’s works. Matisse was the leader of the Fauves, a critical observer of cubism, discipile to Signac, Renoir and Bonnard and rival of Picasso. His work was a precursor to a kind of art which would later find roots in American Abstract Expressionism.