Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
A leader of the Fauvism movement (fauv is French for "wild beasts"), Matisse first came to Nice in 1916, and lived at several addresses before settling in the Cimiez district for the rest of his life. His devotion to the city and its "clear, crystalline, precise, limpid" light culminated, just before his death, with a bequest of works. He was fondly known as the King of Color.
Portrait of Henri Matisse (May, 1933)
Nature Morte aux Grenades (1947) - "Still Life of Pomegranates"
Ripe pomegranates feature in a favorite setting: an interior with a window to "skies...as brilliantly blue as Matisse's eyes", as the poet Aragon put it.
Nu Bleu series (1952-58)
The celebrated "cut-outs" were made in later life when Matisse was bedridden.
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