Artists You Should Know: Henri Matisse

Sharon Wall wrote to suggest Henri Matisse as an artist we should all know. She delights in his indefatigable creative spirit, noting that when he was "too old to even stand at the canvas, he took a fancy to cutting intricate paper outlines, and sketched on the wall with a charcoal strapped to a big stick." Sharon then added that she hopes she too "can still create when I am old and feeble!" (Ditto, Sharon, ditto!) Icarus is one of my favorite works, and Matisse was nearly 80 when he created it. For some reason I grin whenever I look at this paper-cut...love the way he seems to be dancing in the stars and nothing really matters except that his heart (a red dot) is happy. (Makes me want to head outside and spin around in dizzy circles, not caring a fig that someone may be watching.)

I'd like to thank Sharon for suggesting Matisse, first (and especially) because he's worth knowing, and secondly because it was a profile I'd already written (winking). Lots of non-artsy deadlines and commitments, this week, so I truly appreciate your help, Sharon!

Today in Art History:

Leonardo da Vinci (Italian painter, sculptor, architect, designer, inventor and all-around Great Guy), born in 1452

Francisco de Goya (Spanish Rococo > Romantic painter), died in 1828

John Singer Sargent (American Realist painter), died in 1925