A new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art will give visitors a once-in-a-lifetime way to experience the legendary Henri Matisse’s iconic The Red Studio.
For many years after its creation, Matisse’s The Red Studio (1911)—which depicts the artist’s workspace in the Parisian suburbs—was met with bafflement or indifference. Today, it is known as a foundational work of modern art and a landmark in the centuries-long tradition of studio painting.
Matisse: The Red Studio at the MoMA, which opened May 1 and runs through September 10, reunites this work with the surviving six paintings, three sculptures, and one ceramic by Matisse, all depicted in the six-foot-tall-by-seven-foot-wide canvas. This will be the first reunion of these objects since they were together in Matisse’s studio at the time The Red Studio was created.
They range from groundbreaking paintings, such as Le Luxe II (1907–08), to lesser-known works, such as Corsica, The Old Mill (1898), to objects which have only recently been rediscovered.
Paintings and drawings closely related to The Red Studio will help to illuminate the picture’s history, from its rejection by the patron who commissioned it to its international travels and eventual acquisition by MoMA. A rich selection of archival materials, including photographs and letters, reveal new information about the painting’s subject and history.
The exhibition also explores the radical nature of its almost entirely red surface and present recent discoveries about the process of its making.
A creative space within the exhibition invites visitors of all ages to draw, write, and reflect on the spaces and colors that inspire them. Plus, the guided tour program will resume soon, and there will be a free audio tour for both adults and children available.
Don’t wait too long—following its presentation at MoMA, the exhibition head to SMK The National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen from October 13, 2022, through February 26, 2023.
For more information, visit moma.org.
