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