Towards the end of his long career as a painter, sculptor, and lithographer, Matisse fell seriously ill and was no longer able to stand upright for long or hold a brush. So restricted, he developed, in this late phase of his life—he was almost 80 years old—the technique of cutting shapes directly into coloured paper with scissors. He arranged the cut-out shapes with the help of his assistants until a three-dimensional picture emerged, forming a tense figurative or abstract composition. Matisse called his newly developed technique 'drawing with scissors.'

With the gouaches découpées (cut-outs), he created an exuberant late work of radical modernity, full of colour and joie de vivre, which he himself described as the quintessence of his work. Despite their apparent simplicity, the cut-outs achieve a sculptural quality and almost minimalist abstraction that has had a lasting influence on generations of artists. The exuberantly colourful, often large-format pictures are still as refreshing and innovative today as they were at the time of their creation.

This new edition of our award-winning XXL book places Matisse's cut-outs in an extensive biographical context, from his trip to Tahiti in 1930 to his last years in Nice. It contains numerous photos of Matisse, including some rare images by Henri Cartier-Bresson and director F. W. Murnau, as well as texts by Matisse, his publisher E. Tériade, Louis Aragon, Henri Michaux, Pierre Reverdy, and Matisse's son-in-law Georges Duthuit.

About the series: TASCHEN is 40! Since we began our work as cultural treasure hunters in 1980, TASCHEN has stood for affordable, high-quality, and sometimes daring publications. Whether art or body culture—we make it possible for bookworms around the world to assemble their own libraries at unbeatable prices. Today we celebrate our 40th birthday and remain true to our motto: The 40th Anniversary Edition brings together some of the top titles of our programme in smart editions—handy format, friendly price, and as always produced with great dedication.