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Matisse: Life & Spirit Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris

Installation view of ‘Matisse: Life & Spirit Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris’ exhibition, on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 20 November 2021 – 13 March 2022.

Installation view of Matisse: Life & Spirit Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris exhibition, on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photo © AGNSW.

Discover the joy of Matisse through over 100 works spanning six decades

Matisse: Life & Spirit Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris

20 November 2021 – 13 March 2022

Art Gallery of New South Wales

South Building

Lower level 1

Major exhibition gallery

🛈 Find out what you need to know before visiting

Tickets are dated and timed, and can be used once
$30 adult
$27 concession
$25 member
$75 family (2 adults + up to 3 children)
$16 youth (12-17 years)
Free for children under 12

Dine & Discover vouchers must be redeemed in person at the Art Gallery (not online)

Dining package 
Enjoy a meal at the Art Gallery Restaurant Crafted by Matt Moran plus a ticket to Matisse: Life & Spirit (minimum of two guests)
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$8 student

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This Sydney-exclusive exhibition offers an extraordinary immersion in the range and depth of the art of Henri Matisse, one of the world’s most beloved, innovative and influential artists. Developed in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which holds an exceptional collection of works by the artist, Matisse: Life & Spirit, Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris is the greatest single exhibition of Matisse masterworks ever to be seen in Sydney.

Filled with brilliant colour, dynamic energy, visual joy and emotional power, it’s an inspirational journey through the life and art of this ceaselessly inventive and life-affirming painter.

Reaching from his early adventures in colour as a fauvist through to the serene and distilled designs for his chapel in Vence, the exhibition follows Matisse’s search across six decades. Through paintings, drawings, sculptures and a compelling presentation of his triumphant cut-outs, it reveals how Matisse renewed his vision time and again across his long career, seeking new ways of celebrating the seen world and expressing the energy he felt in it.

Highlights include the especially important early work Le Luxe I 1907; the mid-career masterpiece Decorative figure on an ornamental ground 1925; and the majestic self-portrait The sorrow of the king 1952, one of the largest of the famous cut-outs that the artist created in his late career.

This exhibition is made possible with the support of the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. Part of the Sydney International Art Series, bringing the world’s most outstanding exhibitions to Australia, exclusively to Sydney.

As well, this project is proudly supported by the NSW Government through the Blockbusters Funding initiative.

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Note: This display includes works that are protected under the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Act 2013. More information

Henri Matisse 'Still life with magnolia (Nature morte au magnolia)' 1941, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased 1945 AM 2588P, © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse Still life with magnolia (Nature morte au magnolia) 1941, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased 1945 AM 2588P © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse, Polynesia, the sky (Polynésie, le ciel) (detail), 1946, gouache on paper, cut and pasted, mounted on canvas, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne, from Mobilier national et Manufactures des Gobelins, de Beauvais et de la Savonnerie since 1975 AM 1975-DEP 13. © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021. Photo: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Bertrand Prévost / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse Polynesia, the sky (Polynésie, le ciel) 1946, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, from Mobilier national et Manufactures des Gobelins, de Beauvais et de la Savonnerie since 1975 AM 1975-DEP 13 © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Bertrand Prévost / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse 'White and pink head (Tête blanche et rose)' 1914, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased 1976 AM 1976-8, © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse White and pink head (Tête blanche et rose) 1914, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased 1976 AM 1976-8 © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse 'Algerian woman (L’Algérienne)' 1909, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, bequest of Vicomte Guy de Cholet to Musées nationaux, 1916 AM 2009- 214, © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse Algerian woman (L’Algérienne) 1909, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, bequest of Vicomte Guy de Cholet to Musées nationaux, 1916 AM 2009- 214, © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse 'Odalisque with red culottes (Odalisque à la culotte rouge)' 1921 (detail), oil on canvas, 65.3 x 92.3 x 2.5 cm Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne, purchased by the state, 1922 LUX.0.85 P © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021 Photo: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse Odalisque with red culottes (Odalisque à la culotte rouge) 1921, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased by the state, 1922 LUX.0.85P © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse 'Still life with green marble table (Nature morte à la table de marbre vert)' 1941, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased 1945 AM 2591 P. © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse Still life with green marble table (Nature morte à la table de marbre vert) 1941, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, purchased 1945 AM 2591 P © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse 'Interior, goldfish bowl (Intérieur, bocal de poissons rouges)' 1914, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, bequest of Baroness Eva Gourgaud, 1965 AM 4311 P, © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Henri Matisse Interior, goldfish bowl (Intérieur, bocal de poissons rouges) 1914, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI, bequest of Baroness Eva Gourgaud, 1965 AM 4311 P © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency 2021, photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Philippe Migeat / Dist RMN-GP

Exhibition organised by the Centre Pompidou, Paris and the Art Gallery of New South Wales

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