Joined by a prima ballerina and a jazz legend, Matisse’s joyous cut-outs are brought to life in a cinema celebration of the sell-out Tate Modern, London, and MoMA exhibitions in New York.
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN has delighted audiences in over 1,000 cinemas throughout the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America, giving audiences a front-row seat to the world’s greatest art in high definition on the big screen.
Studied in schools and beloved by all ages, Matisse from Tate Modern and MoMA celebrates the life and work of one of the true giants of modern art. The film follows on from the hugely successful live UK broadcast from Tate Modern in June.
In Matisse from Tate Modern and MoMA, the camera takes viewers on an intimate, behind-the-scenes tour of Tate Modern’s critically acclaimed exhibition, Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs, and includes exclusive new material filmed at MoMA, revealing their long and fascinating relationship with Matisse and giving cinema audiences an inside view of their preparations for the exhibition, which opened in October.
Featuring interviews with experts, including Tate Director Nicholas Serota and MoMA Director Glenn Lowry, along with friends and relatives of Matisse, the film also includes rare archive footage of him at work. Acclaimed British actor Simon Russell Beale brings insight and emotion to the words of Henri Matisse himself, while actor Rupert Young (Merlin) narrates.
Unseen by visitors to the exhibition itself, cinema audiences will also enjoy breathtaking musical and dance performances inspired by Matisse’s cut-outs. Six years after he had been diagnosed with cancer, Matisse published Jazz, a limited-edition book containing prints of his cut-out collages. The book and its title signified that, although the artist was nearing the end of his life, he was very much a man moving with the times.
He compared the improvisational rhythms of jazz to his own way of working in making his cut-outs. Invoking the golden age of bebop and jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, the celebrated British musician Courtney Pine has created a very personal new piece especially for the film, which is performed with a trio of drums, double bass and saxophone from Tate Modern.
Dance also fascinated and captivated Matisse, inspiring one of his most famous compositions, The Dance (1909), showing five figures dancing in a circle. In 1937, inspired by Léonide Massine, the choreographer with the Ballets Russes, Matisse designed the scenery and costumes for a ballet based on Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1.
World-famous choreographer Will Tuckett has created a response to Matisse’s Dance cut-outs with Royal Ballet principal dancer Zenaida Yanowsky. Their brand-new dance piece reflects the colours, dynamism and freedom of the cut-outs and, fittingly, is set to Shostakovich’s music.
Director Phil Grabsky says, “Matisse from Tate Modern and MoMA offers international audiences the chance to see this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. For those lucky enough to see it in London or New York, it also offers a wealth of additional insights and exclusive new content, presented in our trademark entertaining and accessible style.”
Matisse from Tate Modern and MoMA is directed by Phil Grabsky, produced by Seventh Art for EXHIBITION ON SCREEN, and distributed worldwide by Arts Alliance. Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs is a collaboration between Tate Modern and MoMA.
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