Horse, Rider and Clown by Henri Matisse

In 1947, Matisse received an offer to assemble an album of “improvisations in color and rhythm” called “Jazz”, which would be the visual analogue of the compositions of famous jazz musicians Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker.

While working on it, the artist cut out figures from sheets of gouache-colored paper, “sculpt sculptures with vibrant color” and “reviving” his childhood memories of sledding, circus clowns, gymnasts and cowboys. A pair of scissors became a tool that allowed him to solve actual problems of color, shape and space.

“Paper silhouettes,” we quote Matisse, “give me the opportunity to write in pure color, and this simplicity guarantees accuracy. This is not a return to the sources, this is the final point of the search.” We will show you three compositions by Matisse from the “Jazz” series: “Horse, Rider and Clown”, hereinafter “Sledge” and “Icarus”.