Matisse: Paires & Séries at the Centre Pompidou

Open to the public from today, this show examines a distinctive aspect of Matisse’s art: his repeated explorations of the same subject through different treatments – for him a way of exploring art itself. The exhibition features some 60 paintings, including four large gouache cutouts, and 30 or so drawings, some brought together for the first time since their creation. It covers the whole of Matisse’s artistic career, from 1899 to 1952, the major periods being represented in chronological order, from the pointillism he experimented with in the summer of 1904 to the ambitious paper cutouts of the 1950s, taking in on the way the renowned Thèmes et variations series of drawings on paper, a kind of conceptual culmination of the procedure. Developing new formal solutions, putting into question his own, earlier advances, Matisse was a profound student of form.
Until 18 June.
Centre Pompidou, rue Beaubourg, 4th. M° Hôtel de Ville or Rambuteau. www.centrepompidou.fr/