Iconic French Artist's Work Showcased At Morris Museum

MORRISTOWN, NJ — The Morris Museum in Morristown has opened a new exhibition, Henri Matisse: Beyond Color. The exhibition is open to the public and continues through Aug. 9, according to the museum.

The show features 71 drawings from more than 200 surviving sheets in the Mourlot Archive, including several pieces the museum said have never been exhibited before. The exhibition focuses on works Henri Matisse produced with master lithographer Fernand Mourlot while creating 13 artist books of poetry from the final two decades of his career. The objects in the exhibition are on loan from the Mourlot Archive.

According to the museum, the exhibition examines the relationship between Matisse and Mourlot, Matisse’s effort to link verse and line drawing, and the historical pressures surrounding the artist from the 1930s through his death in 1954. The museum said the exhibition also explores literary themes, including love, beauty, mortality, and sensuality, while placing the work in the context of World War II, Matisse’s separation from his wife, confiscation of his property, and his health crisis and convalescence.

“In poor health, separated from his family, and working through the hardships of war, Matisse pursued with new purpose the foundational strand of artistic excellence—drawing—in ways that redefined his ultimate place within the canon of Modernism,” says Thomas J. Loughman, Morris Museum President and CEO. “The works—faithfully stewarded by Mourlot’s descendants and presented through a most personal lens of art making and creativity amid crisis—are inspiring. This is a project we can all look to amid our own challenges today.”

The museum said the exhibition also highlights Matisse’s engagement with French literary figures, including Pierre de Ronsard, Charles Baudelaire, and Tristan Tzara. It will include Matisse’s handwritten corrections of page proofs, trial impressions, six original lithographic stones, Mourlot’s printing press, and letters between Matisse and Mourlot that document the artistic and technical process.

The museum said Mourlot’s Paris studio became a place where artists, including Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró, were invited to draw directly onto lithographic stones, preserving the immediacy of the artist’s hand.

For more information, visit the museum's website online here.