Discover the story of henri matisse's icarus

Icarus is a work by Henri Matisse made in 1947.

It was created using his cut-out technique, where he painted paper with gouache, cut out shapes, and arranged them into a composition that was later printed in the Jazz portfolio.

The work is inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus, but Matisse focuses more on movement, color, and emotion than on the tragic story itself. He was influenced by music, dance, and his own later-life limitations.

You can see it in the Musée National d’Art Moderne (Centre Pompidou) and in museum collections that hold the Jazz portfolio prints.

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