Matisse. 1941–1954

“Matisse. 1941–1954” takes place at the Grand Palais from March 24 to July 26, 2026, occupying galleries 3 and 4. Co-produced by the Centre Pompidou and Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais, with participation from the Musée Matisse in Nice, this retrospective brings together over 300 works: paintings, drawings, cut-out gouaches, illustrated books, textiles, and stained glass.

Loans come from major institutions and collections – Centre Pompidou, MoMA, Metropolitan Museum, Barnes Foundation, Beyeler Foundation – as well as private collections.

The curatorship is by Claudine Grammont, head of the graphic arts department at the Musée national d’art moderne, who offers a dense and documented tour designed to highlight the cohesion of this late period.

In January 1941, a serious surgical operation in Lyon forced Matisse into a long recovery and wearing a corset. Nicknamed “the resurrected” by medical staff, he nevertheless never stopped working: rather than interrupting his trajectory, this ordeal marked the start of a renewed period of creation.

The exhibition shows how physical constraints coincided with new plastic audacity. Cut-out gouache became a sovereign artistic language, while other media – painting, drawing, illustrated books, tapestries, stained glass – interact to create an aesthetic of synthesis, where economy of means translates into expressive power.

The itinerary presents ensembles rarely gathered in France. The Interiors of Vence, painted between 1946 and 1948 in the villa “Le Rêve,” form a series of eleven canvases of exceptional strength, where color reinvents pictorial space.

To these major cycles are added artist books, monumental panels and emblematic series that show the continuity of a plural practice.

Displaying these ensembles side by side allows one to grasp the internal logic of Matisse’s work: through repetitions, variations, and different formats, a consistent artistic thought emerges, ranging from small drawings to large decorative projects, including the unprecedented freedom of cut paper.

Designed by Julie Boidin, the staging recreates the “garden” of the studio located in the former Hôtel Régina in Cimiez. In this exceptionally sized space, the cut-out gouaches were not mere fixed paintings: they circulated, were moved and tested on the walls, close to models and fabrics.

The immersive scenography helps visitors understand the relationship between place and work, perceiving the studio as a true laboratory of trials, collages, and assemblages – clues that illuminate the artist’s gesture and method.