At the Grand Palais in Paris, a major exhibition chronicles the last years of Henri Matisse

From March 24 to July 26, 2026, the Grand Palais in Paris hosts Matisse 1941-1954. In the final years of his life, Henri Matisse developed a new language based on cut-out forms and the intensity of pure color. More than 300 works, including paintings, drawings, books, and gouaches découpées, tell the story of an artist’s ever-evolving career in the period between 1941 and 1954. Curated by Claudine Grammont, head of the graphic art department at the Musée national d’art moderne - Centre Pompidou, the exhibition explores the final years of Matisse’s career through a large body of work from both the Centre Pompidou’s collections and major international loans. The exhibition aims to highlight the profoundly multidisciplinary nature of his production during this phase, presenting an extraordinary array of cut-out gouaches alongside paintings, drawings, illustrated books, textiles and stained glass.

Now almost in his eighties, Matisse radically renewed himself through the technique of cut-out papers, which he transformed into an autonomous language, free and universal in its essentiality. This mode of expression, suitable for both reproduction and monumental works, allows him to fully express the decorative dimension of his art.

The exhibition itinerary illustrates how painting nevertheless remains central to his work, without being replaced by cut-outs: on the contrary, it is further expanded in terms of space, chromatic intensity and visual energy. The main nuclei include the large series of the Intérieurs de Vence (1947-1948), the Jazz album, the Thèmes et variations series, the brush and ink drawings, as well as elements related to the Chapelle de Vence project. Also on display are the monumental panels of La Gerbe and Les Acanthes and, as a highlight, the large cut-out figures, including La Tristesse du roi, Zulma, La Danseuse créole and the famous Nus bleus, are exceptionally brought together.

Designed as a journey into the artist’s creative universe, the exhibition restores the vibrant atmosphere of his constantly changing studio. The visitor is invited to explore, room after room, Matisse’s lush visual “garden,” emblematic of his inexhaustible inventiveness.

The exhibition is a co-production between the Centre Pompidou and GrandPalaisRmn, with the participation of the Musée Matisse in Nice.

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Fridays until 10 p.m.

At the Grand Palais in Paris, a major exhibition chronicles the last years of Henri Matisse

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