7th Aug 1999 - 27th Aug 1999
University Gallery
The French painter, sculptor and designer Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is one of this century's best loved artists. His vibrant paintings, prints and cut-outs, celebrated for their exeptional richness and luminosity of colour, are found in art collections all over the world. In 1947 Matisse completed 20 images an texts for a book he called Jazz. The prints from this are presented in a National Touring Exhibition from the Hayward Gallery, which comes to The University of Brighton Gallery in August.
The images in Jazz are based on Matisse's paper cut-outs, a technique he invented in the 1930's as a way of developing ideas for his paintings and decorative comissions. According to Matisse, the subjects in Jazz "with their lively and vibrant tones, derive from crystallisations of memories of circuses, folk tales and voyages."
Matisse soon created his own style after going to Paris to study art in 1890 and 1905 he and his friends became know as the Fauves. It was during this time that he painted his celebrated Luxe, Calme et Volupte (luxury, tranquility and delight).
The exhibition is drawn from the Arts Council Collection. Administered by the Hayward Gallery, the Arts Council Collection is one of the largest loan collections of modern British art in the world.
