Artists

Henri Matisse

Press release

The Fondation, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York and the SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (National Gallery of Denmark) - is hosting the exhibition Matisse: The Red Studio, focusing on the genesis and history of this famous 1911 masterpiece, one of MoMA’s iconic works since its acquisition in 1949. The large canvas depicts the artist’s studio filled with his paintings and sculptures, furniture, and decorative objects. This exhibition reunites the artworks shown in The Red Studio for the first time since they left Matisse’s studio in Issy- les-Moulineaux. The presentation also includes archival material and related paintings and drawings.

The core of the exhibition features The Red Studio alongside the surviving six paintings, three sculptures and one ceramic depicted in it. Created between 1898 and 1911, these objects range from familiar paintings, such as Young Sailor (II) (1906) - is exhibited in France for the first time in 31 years - to lesser-known works, such as Corsica, The Old Mill (1898), and objects whose locations have only recently been discovered.

Three of these paintings - Bathers (1907), Le Luxe (II) (1907-08), and Nude with a White Scarf (1909) - belong to SMK as part of a significant collection of Matisse’s works, while the artist’s 1907 ceramic plate, depicted in the foreground, comes from MoMA’s collection.

The exhibition also includes a number of paintings and drawings closely related to The Red Studio, such as MoMA’s The Blue Window (1913), and the MNAM/Centre Pompidou’s Large Red Interior (1948), which help us narrate the painting’s complex path from Matisse’s studio to its eventual acquisition by MoMA. A rich selection of archival materials such as letters and photographs - many published or exhibited for the first time in connection with this project - disclose new information on the painting’s subject, evolution, and reception. The exhibition also includes a video devoted to conservation science, which presents recent discoveries about the process of making the painting.