Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Henri Matisse: The Man and His Art (1869–1954)
Speaker
Karen K. Butler, Ph.D.
Coordinator
Steve Clarey
August 18: From Avant-Garde to World War I
(1903–1916)
Matisse emerged on the Parisian art scene as a
“Fauve” in 1905. We will explore the Joy of Life
(1906), a rendering of sensual arcadia in bold colors
and jarring shifts of scale, which established Matisse
as one of the most radical artists of the 20th century.
We will discuss his tangles with Cubism in his teens
and the personal and material ambiguity of World
War I as his oldest son goes off to war.
August 25: From Bourgeois to Radical Again
(1917–Late 1940s)
This lecture will start with Matisse’s period of relative
artistic calm spent in the French seaside town of Nice
(1917–1930), then explore the Dance mural (1933),
a work of enormous effort which reset Matisse’s
artistic practice. We will end with the cut-outs (late
1940s) made from colored pieces of paper pinned to
canvas by the bed-ridden artist.
(1903–1916)
Matisse emerged on the Parisian art scene as a
“Fauve” in 1905. We will explore the Joy of Life
(1906), a rendering of sensual arcadia in bold colors
and jarring shifts of scale, which established Matisse
as one of the most radical artists of the 20th century.
We will discuss his tangles with Cubism in his teens
and the personal and material ambiguity of World
War I as his oldest son goes off to war.
August 25: From Bourgeois to Radical Again
(1917–Late 1940s)
This lecture will start with Matisse’s period of relative
artistic calm spent in the French seaside town of Nice
(1917–1930), then explore the Dance mural (1933),
a work of enormous effort which reset Matisse’s
artistic practice. We will end with the cut-outs (late
1940s) made from colored pieces of paper pinned to
canvas by the bed-ridden artist.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Karen K. Butler is an independent
scholar and curator. She is one of the co-authors
of Matisse in the Barnes Foundation (2016) and the
co-author of Georges Braque and the Cubist Still
Life, 1928-1945 (2013). She completed her Ph.D. in
art history at Columbia University with a specialty
in 20th century European art.
scholar and curator. She is one of the co-authors
of Matisse in the Barnes Foundation (2016) and the
co-author of Georges Braque and the Cubist Still
Life, 1928-1945 (2013). She completed her Ph.D. in
art history at Columbia University with a specialty
in 20th century European art.
18
25