Where can you see Henri Matisse in New York?

At the Museum of Modern Art: Dance (I), The Red Studio and The Piano Lesson. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Nasturtiums with the Painting "Dance" I. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Henri Matisse's most famous work in New York?

Dance (I), of 1909, at the Museum of Modern Art. Five nude figures whirl in a ring on a green hill under a blue sky, drawn in a few lines. It is nearly four metres wide and was painted in a matter of days.

When and where was Henri Matisse born?

On 31 December 1869, at Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France. Henri Matisse died on 3 November 1954, at Nice, France, aged about 85.

What is Henri Matisse known for?

Leader of the Fauves, the wild beasts of 1905. Dance (I) is the first version of a panel now in St Petersburg. Made his late cut-outs with scissors, from a bed or a wheelchair. Henri Matisse was a French painter, of Fauvism.

Painter, 1869 to 1954

Henri Matisse

Matisse and Picasso were the two poles of modern painting, and the Museum of Modern Art collected both from the start. Its rooms of Matisse are, for many visitors, the reason to come.

Born: 1869, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France
Died: 1954, Nice, France
Movement: Fauvism
In New York: 4 works in 2 museums

Where to see Henri Matisse in New York

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The Museum of Modern Art3 works

Dance (I)
1909
Five nude figures whirl in a ring on a green hill under a blue sky, drawn in a few lines. It is nearly four metres wide and was painted in a matter of days.
The Red Studio
1911
His studio outside Paris, with his own paintings and sculptures standing about in it, and walls, floor and furniture all flooded with one Venetian red.
The Piano Lesson
1916
His son Pierre at the piano by an open window, painted in grey, green and pink in the middle of the war. It is as close as Matisse came to abstraction.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art1 work

Nasturtiums with the Painting "Dance" I
1912
A vase of nasturtiums on a stool in his studio, with the big painting of dancers leaning against the wall behind it.

The life of Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was born in the north of France in 1869 and came to painting at twenty, while recovering from an illness. In 1905 he and his friends showed pictures in colours so strong that a critic called them wild beasts, fauves, and the name stuck. Colour remained his subject for fifty years, to the paper cut-outs he made in old age from his bed.

A Russian merchant, Sergei Shchukin, ordered two great panels from him in 1909, Dance and Music. Dance (I), the full-size first version in paler colours, is the one in New York. The Museum of Modern Art gave him a retrospective as early as 1931.

What to know

Leader of the Fauves, the wild beasts of 1905
Dance (I) is the first version of a panel now in St Petersburg
Made his late cut-outs with scissors, from a bed or a wheelchair

Born: 31 December 1869, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France
Died: 3 November 1954, Nice, France

Henri Matisse: common questions

Where can you see Henri Matisse in New York?: At the Museum of Modern Art: Dance (I), The Red Studio and The Piano Lesson. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Nasturtiums with the Painting "Dance" I. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Henri Matisse's most famous work in New York?: Dance (I), of 1909, at the Museum of Modern Art. Five nude figures whirl in a ring on a green hill under a blue sky, drawn in a few lines. It is nearly four metres wide and was painted in a matter of days.
When and where was Henri Matisse born?: On 31 December 1869, at Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France. Henri Matisse died on 3 November 1954, at Nice, France, aged about 85.
What is Henri Matisse known for?: Leader of the Fauves, the wild beasts of 1905. Dance (I) is the first version of a panel now in St Petersburg. Made his late cut-outs with scissors, from a bed or a wheelchair. Henri Matisse was a French painter, of Fauvism.