Inside Matisse’s Garden
CA: The magic of Matisse’s art derives from his capacity to create a world that is both fantastic—as in, full of fantasy—and fascinating, through the simple use of a pair of scissors and glue. These details allow the book to operate on several different levels, for multiple audiences. © The Museum of Modern Art. This Sunday, November 2, at 12:00 p.m., author Samantha Friedman will read from the book and MoMA educators will teach you how to make your own Matisse-inspired cut-outs. Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is on view at MoMA through February 8, 2015. For me, colors are the starting point; if the colors don’t work together, the harmony of the image will always be impaired despite the balance of the composition. And my illustrations are filled with direct and indirect references to Matisse’s work, which go beyond the cut-outs to include his paintings on canvas and old black-and-white photographs of his studio and trips he’d taken. © The Museum of Modern Art. Samantha Friedman: Having spent years researching Matisse’s cut-outs for the exhibition, I was excited to tell the story of these incredible works in a different way.
Why did you start working on Matisse’s Garden? Illustration by Cristina Amodeo. The studio assistants painting the papers echo the composition of the artist’s early painting Dance (I), and the still life scene features real objects from his studio. SF: I love how Cristina incorporated references to Matisse’s art and life into the illustrations. Illustration by Cristina Amodeo.
Interior spread from Matisse’s Garden. © Cristina Amodeo
“One day the artist Henri Matisse cut a small bird from a piece of white paper. © Cristina Amodeo
What were some of the surprises or challenges in introducing Matisse’s work to children? To quote Matisse and the book: “What counts most with colors are relationships.” I absolutely agree with this and treasure it especially in what I consider the most important phase of my work: selecting the color palette. © The Museum of Modern Art. © Cristina Amodeo
How did Matisse’s artwork inspire your writing/illustrations? CA: I carefully researched, read about, and studied Matisse’s life and artistic journey before I began working on the sketches and storyboard. So he pinned it on the wall of his apartment to cover up a stain.”
Cover of Matisse’s Garden, published by The Museum of Modern Art
Thus begins Matisse’s Garden, the story of an endlessly curious artist who used scissors and painted paper to make something utterly new. It was a simple shape but he liked the way it looked and didn’t want to throw it out. Illustration by Cristina Amodeo. And this is what I love about Matisse’s Garden, it’s a book about form and color, but mostly about forms created by color. © Cristina Amodeo
Do you have any favorite details in the book? For more of Matisse’s Garden, download a free preview. Interior spread from Matisse’s Garden. Interior spread from Matisse’s Garden. It’s about discovering the power of imprecision, and the spontaneity and the gestures when they become expressions of a magical world. Interior spread from Matisse’s Garden. It showcases eight artworks by Matisse, including three oversized reproductions on foldout pages. Cristina Amodeo: I’ve always loved Matisse’s work and found the idea of working on a children’s book about him so exciting because it would give me the opportunity to rediscover the quality of his work and the innovation behind his art. Explaining them clearly is a challenge, but a good one, in that it forces you to truly understand them yourself.
