Henri Matisse, Ellsworth Kelly

Book excerpt: This collection of work by Henri Matisse and Ellsworth Kelly is based on anxhibition of more than 100 rarely exhibited drawings organized by the Centreompidou in Paris. A comparative display, the exhibition focuses on the rolef drawing in the work of these two distinctly different 20th-century masters.Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is recognized for the lyrical form and decorativeesthetic seen in his paintings and colourful paper cut-outs. Ellsworth Kellyborn 1923) is known for the monumental abstract forms of his sculpture andhe bold colours of his hard-edge paintings. Yet both artists explored theironcepts in prolific studies of plants, often in series in which each drawingxisted on its own terms as well as part of an infinite process.