Chez Matisse. The legacy of a new painting

From 29 October to 22 February 2026, CaixaForum Madrid will be hosting an exhibition that takes visitors on a journey through the work of Henri Matisse, an artist questioned who not only the very foundations of painting but also its emotional and political situation.

Organised in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou, the exhibition traces Matisse’s career, exploring his evolution, scope, and the profound influence he exerted on fellow artists and international avant-garde movements. 

The art of Henri Matisse (Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1869 - Nice, 1954) reflects his innovative concept of colour, as well as his critical reformulation of painting as a mere pictorial surface and his idea of being 'out of place' both emotionally and politically. In other words, his way of expressing his break with established norms and searching for a new way of seeing and representing the world.

This exhibition brings together a wide selection of works, most on loan from the Centre Pompidou, in which Matisse’s art engages in dialogue with that of both his contemporaries and later artists he inspired. Structured across eight thematic sections, the show charts Matisse’s career and artistic evolution, from German Fauvism and Russian Neoprimitivism to the emergence of American painting from the 1940s onwards.

Image credits:

• Henri Matisse, Marguerite au chat noir [Marguerite with Black Cat], Early 1910s. Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle AM 2013-544. © Succession H. Matisse/ VEGAP/ 2025. Photography: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Georges Meguerditchian/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn
• Henri Matisse, Luxe, calme et volupté [Luxury, Calm and Voluptuousness], Autumn-Winter 1904. Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle. Kept at the Musée d’Orsay, 1985 AM 1982-96 © Succession H. Matisse/ VEGAP/ 2025. Photography: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Service de la documentation photographique du MNAM/Dist. GrandPalais
• Natalia Goncharova, Nature morte au homard [Still Life with Lobster]’ 1909-1910. Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle AM 81-65-857 © Natalia Goncharova, VEGAP, Barcelona, 2025. Photography: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Hélène Mauri/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn
• Henri Matisse, Le Rêve [The Dream], May 1935. Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle AM 1979-106 © Succession H. Matisse/ VEGAP/ 2025. Photography: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Bertrand Prévost/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn