The King's Sadness 1952

Henri Matisse made The King’s Sadness from paper cutouts, sometime before his death in 1954. It’s all about shape, colour, and playful flatness, like a kid let loose with scissors and a stack of coloured paper. The surface is just paper on paper, but look how he makes these forms sing. Take that figure on the left – is it dancing, falling, or maybe just lounging around? The shapes are so simple, so direct, yet they give you a whole mood. And the colours! That dark blue pushing against the green and purple makes the whole thing vibrate. It’s not trying to trick you into thinking it’s anything other than what it is – paper, colour, shape, feeling. Matisse reminds me a little of Elizabeth Murray, who also made paintings from simple shapes, creating her own world through colour. Both are so inspiring! They remind us that art doesn't always need to be complicated to be profound.