Paintings produced by Henri Matisse in Morocco are being shown at the Institute of the Arab World in Paris until January 30th 2000. Matisse visited Tangiers twice in 1912 and discovered the importance of light in the brightness of the Moroccan sky. Matisse was above all interested in capturing colourful effects and was never considered as painter of Oriental subjects.
Before going to Morocco, Matisse had produced several masterpieces such as the «Dance» and «Music». Still he managed to come nearer to his dream of transforming a painting into a bunch of flowers in an interior.
Matisse was attracted by the vegetation of Morocco and the indolent attitudes of its people. He later became interested in representing expressive Odalisques in an exotic manner and also in erasing the contradiction between human figure and decor transforming man into some kind of vegetal representation.
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