With so many new ideas and developments emerging in the early 20th century, it's no surprise that the art world saw an explosion of new forms like Fauvism, Cubism, and Dada. Artists like Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp became world-famous in an instant, along with such contemporaries as the French painter and sculptor Henri Matisse.

Born in northern France in 1869, Matisse grew up the son of a wealthy grain merchant and studied law, which he briefly practiced in his hometown of Le Cateau-Cambresis. After an attack of appendicitis in 1889, the young man took up painting during his recovery, which he described as "a kind of paradise." In 1891, he returned to Paris to take up the study of art, learning the traditional techniques at the Academie Julian and being introduced to Impressionism, which would influence his use of color. But Matisse would not achieve true recognition until 1905, when he joined a new generation of artists at an exhibition at the Salon d'Automne. Now considered one of the "Fauves," Matisse continued to experiment with bold colors and lines. He traveled to Algeria and Spain, studying African and Islamic art for inspiration.

It was in 1906 that he became a part of the Parisian salon run by American author Gertrude Stein and met contemporary artist Pablo Picasso. The American expatriate community in Paris was strong, bringing contemporary artists into vogue and selecting some of their best works for their collections. Matisse's paintings in particular brought a great deal of attention and praise at the Americans' weekly gatherings. He went on to found a school for young artists and continued to experiment with new forms, most notably with paper collages near the end of his life. Before his death in 1954, Matisse's final work was the design for a stained-glass window at the Union Church of Pocantico Hills near the Rockefeller estate New York.

Although influenced by the Impressionists, Henri Matisse was drawn toward brilliant colors and fluid lines. At the time his career began, he was counted as one of the leaders of the short-lived Fauvism movement (derived from fauves, the French word for "wild beasts," owing to their break from traditional art). Like his contemporaries Picasso and Duchamp, Matisse was drawn toward African art and "primitivism" for inspiration, adopting bold colors and lines from such works. His most common subjects include female models (many of them nude), interiors, and still life paintings.

At the Salon d'Automne in 1905, Matisse made his mark with a painting entitled Woman with a Hat. The painting was a serious break from his previous Impressionist style. The woman who modeled for the painting was the artist's wife Amélie, and according to Matisse, while the clothing she wore was black, but Matisse painted her and her attire in vibrant, fluid tones of green, blue, pink, and violet. Thus, Matisse offered a more expressive view of a person through his painting. His rough and unfinished quality raised a scandal in the artistic Establishment at the time, but since then, he has gone on to inspire others with his imagination and fluidity.

You can find other artworks by Henri Matisse at such museums as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and San Francisco, the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, and the Matisse Museum in Le Cateau-Cambresis.

Image by Jake Przespo on Flickr