Henri Matisse

A French master of the 20th century. He was born in 1869 in Cateau-Cambresi, France. After graduating from law school in Paris, he had aspired to become a lawyer. However, during a recovery period from an illness, he began to paint, which led him to pursue a career in art.
While studying under Gustave Moreau, he had also become friends with Georges Rouault and Albert Marquet. In 1903, he and his fellow students of Moreau's class formed the Salon d'Automne. In 1905, works by Matisse, Rouault, Marquet, Derain, Vlaminck, and others were exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, where the intense colors and bold brushwork of the artworks gave birth to the term “Fauvism”.
After playing a central role in the development of Fauvism, he continued to be an innovator of painting, exploring vivid colors and forms that appealed directly to the senses. In his later years, until his death in 1954 at the age of 84, he continued to work vigorously on projects, which include the publication of his art book “Jazz” and the creation of murals for the Rosary Chapel in Vence, Southern France. Matisse's achievements continue to have a profound influence on artists of later generations.