With over 70 works from major European and American museums and private collections, the exhibition will highlight the development and diversity of the artist's innovative work. It will take as its starting point Charles Baudelaire's poem Invitation to a Voyage, 1857. Many key motifs and themes in Matisse's work echo those found in Baudelaire's poetry. The latest in a long line of unparalleled exhibitions such as “Paul Gauguin,” 2015, “Monet,” 2017, and “The Young Picasso – Blue and Rose Periods,” 2019,
“Matisse to the Voyage” will be at the Fondation Beyeler from 22 September 2024 to 26 January 2025.
Henri Matisse (1869–1954) is one of the most famous exponents of modern art.. His pioneering work has profoundly influenced generations of artists, from his contemporaries to the present day. By freeing colour from pattern and simplifying forms, he redefines painting and imbues art with a previously unknown lightness. Matisse was also an innovator in the field of sculpture, and in his late cut-outs he devised a distinctive interaction of painting, drawing and sculpture. The exhibition will cover the entire span of the artist's career. Beginning with his early works around 1900, it will move on to the revolutionary paintings of Fauvism and the experimental works of the 30s, the sensual paintings of the Nice period and the XNUMXs, before culminating in the legendary cut-outs of the XNUMXs and XNUMXs. The wealth of significant paintings, sculptures and paper cut-outs on display will stand to visualise the development and range of Matisse's unique oeuvre.
The exhibition takes inspiration from the poem “Invitation to the Voyage” by Charles Baudelaire, 1857, to which Matisse referred several times.
His poetic leitmotifs of luxury, peace and pleasure («luxe, calme et volupté») are the guiding principles of Matisse's work and capture the very essence of his artistic production. The exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler is therefore conceived as a journey through Matisse's work and life, in which travel played an important role. The exhibition therefore invites viewers to journey through Matisse's singular work and life, shaped by numerous journeys. From his explorations of countries such as Italy, Spain and Morocco to Tahiti, where the artist found ever-renewed inspiration in the nature and art of other cultures.
Curated by Raphaël Bouvier, The exhibition will bring together iconic and rarely exhibited works from major European and American museums and private collections, such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris; National Gallery, Washington; Museum of Modern Art, New York; K20, Düsseldorf; and the Baltimore Museum. Key paintings will include The Table (La Desserte), 1897; Luxury, Peace and Pleasure (Luxe, calme et volupté), 1904; The Open Window, Collioure (La fenêtre ouverte, Collioure), 1905; Luxury I (Le Luxe I), 1907; Bathers with a Tortoise (Baigneuses à la tortue), 1907/08; Decorative Figure on an Ornamental Background (Figure decorativa sur fond ornemental), 1925/26; Large Reclining Nude (Grand nu couché [Pink Nu]), 1935; Red interior, still life on blue table (Intérieur rouge, nature morte sur table bleue), 1947; and Nudo blu I (Nu bleu I), 1952.
The Beyeler Foundation
The museum in Riehen near Basel is internationally renowned for its high-quality exhibitions and its outstanding collection of modern and contemporary art, as well as its ambitious events program. The museum building was designed by Renzo Piano in the idyllic setting of a park with old trees and water lily ponds. It boasts a unique location in the heart of a local recreational area, overlooking the fields, pastures and vineyards at the foot of the Black Forest. In collaboration with the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the Fondation Beyeler is building a new museum building in the adjacent park, thus expanding and enhancing the harmonious interplay between art, architecture and nature.
Cover image: HENRI MATISSE, GRAND NU COUCHÉ (NU ROSE) [LARGE RECLINING NUDE (THE PINK NUDE)], 1935, Oil on canvas, 66,4×93,3 cm. The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950 © Succession H. Matisse / 2024, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo: Mitro Hood
