From painter and sculptor to a magician with paper, Matisse created wild and colorful art that are both magical and modern, creating art designs of perspectives before his time.

Who Was Matisse?

Matisse was a man of many talents and a hard life. He started as a painter and sculptor. Very little is known about some of his paintings and sculptors. He is mostly known for his paper art motifs and murals/collages that he designed after a divorce and severe illness that kept him bed ridden.

The Lesson:

• A simple and fun activity of shapes and creativity
• Requires very few materials
• Grab a few examples of art and let the creativity flow

Materials:

Channeling Our Inner Matisse

Resources:

• Henri Matisse | Biography, Art Style, Paintings, Prints, & Collage | Britannica
• Henri Matisse
• Henri Matisse – Wikipedia

The Results:

It can be as simple or complex as you want. We created all kinds of fun designs using suggestions and the book/video. Mostly, just play around, cut and glue and redesign.

It was tricky at first to figure out how to cut out shapes from freehand. However, the kids soon joined in and decided on an idea. Once the idea was set, there was a lot of cutting and colorful designs produced. We put on a video and learned about Matisse and his creative journey throughout his many years.

Our middle son created a bird and sun, our eldest created a silly dog and hearts (still embracing the shapes and story idea I asked) and the youngest created birds and a buffalo in the desert. It was fun to see them start out tentatively and then create a story in the end.

As much as I’m not a fan of impressionists and perhaps more “modern” artists, Matisse surprised me. This activity was not only fun, but it was liberating. The shapes seemed to take figures and geometrics as they were cut, the goal to cut all in one. The kids enjoyed the shapes and ideas as well. Overall, a simple yet very rewarding art lesson to create our own version of The Mermaid.