Creative career of Matisse spanned six decades, but curators of the museum show "Henri Matisse Radical Invention" have focused on the years from 1913 to 1917 when he created what he termed his "most important pictures."

"It's an incredible moment when Matisse, the master of color, tones down the color and pays attention to form," said Stephanie D'Alessandro, curator at the Art Institute of Chicago.



"Radical Invention" will make only two stops Now through June 20 at the Art Institute of Chicago, and July 18 to October 11 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

The pared-down exhibition is smaller than blockbusters of the recent past. But its 117 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures plucked from museums and private collections across the globe excited early crowds in Chicago.

The exhibition's centerpiece is the Art Institute's own monumental "Bathers by a River" that Matisse once said was his most important painting and one that he revised repeatedly.

Labels: cubism paintings, Matisses moment, museum show, paintings