Matisse - Large Collage Series

Due to health issues in his later years, Matisse began creating with collage from 1943 onwards. He stated, "I paint directly with scissors into color; it is the same caution, without any change." He added, "Today, for me, collage is the most direct and simplest form of expression... It is not a beginning, but a result." The National Museum of Modern Art, Paris holds an exceptionally rich collection of Matisse's large collages, such as Jazz (1943–1946, his earliest collage series), The Sea (1946), Stained Glass Series for the Church of Vence (1949), Blue Nude (1952), and The Sad King (1952). These works present harmony and balance through bright, vivid colors, possessing a supreme aesthetic quality within the reality of movement. The Sad King is not only the result of pure formal artistic contemplation but also depicts a biblical story, portraying David playing music before the melancholic King Solomon.