Henri Matisse

The Kunstmuseum Pablo Picasso has recently come into the possession of the biggest Matisse collection in Germany, which was beforehand stored for sixty years in a bank safe belonging to the community of Matisse heirs in Paris. The total of 121 works cover all the expressive possibilities in the work of the great master of classical modernism, including woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, linocuts, and aquatints. The graphic prints document some 50 years of the artist’s creativity: the earliest print is a Fauvist woodcut from 1906, the latest an aquatint etching from 1952. The works are supplemented by ten of Henri Matisse’s painter books from the Sammlung Classen. The publication focuses in particular on his working method and process of working. In addition to the works on paper, paintings, sculptures, one paper cutting, and tapestries from international museums and private collections are also presented.