Matisse And The Sea

Exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum, 17 February - 12 May 2024

The sea was of great importance in the career of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), who produced works along the shores of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Marine imagery was an important catalyst for de Matisse's artistic experimentation, particularly for his Bathers with a Turtle, an emblematic painting housed at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

This catalogue of the first exhibition devoted to the subject brings together a wide range of works (paintings, sculptures, paper cut-outs, drawings, prints, ceramics and textiles), from Matisse's first panoramic views of the south of France to his last paper cut-outs depicting life beneath the waves, inspired by his visit to Tahiti in 1930.

The book takes a particular interest in the Bathers with a Turtle, examining the range of sources, from Cézanne to sculpture from sub-Saharan Africa, and helps us to understand the influence that travel and other artistic styles had on Matisse's work.