Saturday 3 January 2015

Cultural Highlight of the Year – Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs


I was invited by Third Way to write 100 words on a ‘cultural highlight of the year’. Whilst claiming absolutely no nous at all about art, my offer of writing something on the Matisse exhibition at Tate Modern was accepted, and I submitted the below 100 words.

Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs
Tate Modern: Exhibition
17 April – 7 September 2014

When ill-heath prevented Matisse from painting, he turned to paper and scissors, cutting painted sheets into varying shapes and sizes – ‘painting with scissors’, as he called it – inaugurating a fresh phase in his career. From dancers and clowns to snow flowers and stained-glass, to see so many in one place was a treat. For me, it was a combination of factors: simplicity coupled with sophistication, the involvement of others in his work, its accessibility to all ages. Above all, perhaps, it represented triumph over adversity, the strength of the human spirit to create beauty out of brokenness.

No comments: