This Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition from the Southbank Centre features 35 prints of spectacular cut-outs produced by Matisse in the last four years of his life, when he was confined to his bed. Created by 'carving' into paper that had been hand-painted with gouache, the cut-outs include some of his most colourful and iconic images, such as The Snail and the Blue Nudes. The lithographic prints in this exhibition are taken from a special double issue of Verve, a review of art and literature, which was planned during his lifetime and published after his death in 1954.

Matisse was one of the 20th century's most influential artists, who developed his own style of art using brilliant, pure colours. Early in his career, his unconventional use of colour led to him and his colleagues being called the Fauves (wild beasts). He continued creating highly original works into his eighties and the cut-outs he made at the end of his career were his final triumph. ‘There is no gap between my earlier pictures and my cut-outs’, Matisse wrote; ‘I have only reached a form reduced to the essential through greater absoluteness and greater abstraction’.

This vibrant exhibition will showcase some of his most remarkable work.

Matisse Drawing With Scissors has been organised and funded by the Friends of the Heseltine Gallery, with generous support from The Finnis Scott Foundation.

Henri Matisse, L’Escargot (The Snail) 1952-53 (lithographic reproduction, 1958). © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 2022

Exhibition opening times

The exhibition runs from 12 September to 23 October 2022.

Open Sunday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, closed Saturdays. Admission free.