Beauty in the Shadow of War: Henri Matisse’s untamable colours.

European artists who lived through the turmoil of the first world war, the Russian revolution, the roaring twenties and great depression, the Spanish Flu, the rise of fascism, numerous regional wars and the outbreak of the second World War, were greatly affected by these world events. Henri Matisse however, rarely depicted these political or economic events in a direct, representational way. Instead, his art, throughout his life, was a deliberate pursuit of an art to transform suffering into a harmonious and joyful visual experience for the viewer. His output became an escape and a form of subtle resistance to the surrounding turmoil, his style an adaption to the chaos. 

This lecture explores how Henri Matisse created some of the most radiant and life-affirming art of the twentieth century while living through the upheaval of World War I, the anxious years between the wars, and World War II. Rather than depicting violence or political turmoil…