Matisse: Colour Liberated

How did the young painter who scandalised Paris as a “wild beast” become the creator of some of the most serene and joyful art of the twentieth century?

In 1905, Matisse and his fellow Fauves shocked critics with paintings of such startling colour that they seemed to defy every convention. Half a century later, working with severely restricted mobility, Matisse was still experimenting, creating his magnificent paper cut-outs and transforming the chapel at Vence into a celebration of colour and light. From the audacity of his early paintings to the breathtaking simplicity of his final masterpieces, Rose explores an artist who never stopped reinventing himself, finding extraordinary freedom in the most unexpected circumstances.