Henri Matisse (ahn-ree mah-tees) grew up in a small town in northern France. When he graduated from high school, his father sent him to Paris to study law. When he was 21 years old, he suffered an attack of appendicitis. He was forced to stay in bed for a long time, and to ease his boredom, his mother bought him some paints. Suddenly, Matisse felt as if a weight had been lifted. He had discovered an interest and a talent that changed his direction: he decided to become an artist.

Matisse studied painting for nine years in Paris. During his training in 1896, he exhibited four paintings at the conservative Salon and was praised by critics there. Matisse began to experiment with different styles, and by 1897 had caused a scandal with his painting The Dinner Table. He was especially interested in using color in new ways—not to depict nature realistically, but rather to emphasize shapes and designs. Flat shapes and simple, contrasting bold colors characterized his work from this period on. By 1905, he and his friends with similar interests had been labeled the Fauves, or wild beasts, by critics reacting to their strong visual statements.

Matisse adopted a different medium in his later years: he began working almost exclusively with paper cutouts. He chose his shapes instinctively and judged their arrangement by what felt right. His inventiveness and creativity continued to transform art until his death. While Matisse’s paintings were revolutionary in his day, today they are hailed as masterpieces.