Great Art/ITV
Observant readers might have noticed that Sky Arts is normally my channel of choice for art.
However ITV have been running a series every Tuesday night on an artist by reference to an exhibition. This week the subject was Henri Matisse.
Normally with Matisse any review concentrates on his time in Paris and neglects his final years.
This programmme did not.
It showcased his wonderful paper cuts and the Rosalie Chapel in Vence where he spent his final years.
In the late 1940s Matisse suffered from acute abdominal cancer but survived an operation.
He was nonetheless in a wheelchair.
He advertised for a carer and Monique Bourgeois was the successful applicant.
Through the use of long brushes he was able to paint again but he chose to work on a different medium.
He cut away strips of paper which he coloured as only he can.
Years ago I acquired a copy and in my various moves it stayed with me.
Monique Bourgeois left him to join a Dominican convent and out of gratitude Matisse decorated a chapel for the Order.
As a regular visitor to the South of France a trip to Vence to see the chapel is always on the agenda.
Friends I have taken there have invariably commented onthe simplicity of the Chapel. This is intentional as Matisse wished to avoid anything grandiose: the colours of the stained glass are yellow and blue and the line drawings very simple.
If you accompany this with a trip to the Maeght Foundation with its sculpture garden and a fabulous collection including Miro and Chagall and then take lunch at the Colombe D’Or to see their incomparable collection you have an unparalleled art outing.
Apart from one inaccuracy – that Degas was stated to be an impressionist – and one expert opining that Matisse’s works lacked psychology this programme paid excellent tribute to one of the titans of twentieth century art.
