Art In Balance: Matisse and his Illustrated Works

Art In Balance: Matisse and His Illustrated Works, showcases 80+ works—including lithographs, drawings, pochoirs, and linocuts—by Henri Matisse (Le Chateau-Cambrésis, 1869 – Nice, 1954), one of the most influential figures in modern art. These pieces reflect the artist’s profound spirituality, which remained a consistent theme during his mature period.

The exhibition spans a period from around the Second World War to Matisse’s final days, a time marked by a deep spiritual connection and the "joie de vivre" he sought to express—an explosion of joy and peace within his soul. A highlight of this period is the Matisse Chapel in Vence, on the Côte d'Azur, a project in which the artist was fully immersed, from the architectural design to its decoration.

Complementing the exhibition is a video on the Matisse Chapel, along with a series of photographs by Hélène Adant, which were featured in the 1951 book The Rosary Chapel of the Dominican Sisters of Vence, authored by Matisse himself. In this book, Matisse reflects on the chapel, stating, “For me, this chapel is the culmination of a lifetime of work and the flowering of a great, sincere, and difficult effort… A part of this human expression… will remain alive, capable of bridging the past and the future of the plastic tradition.”