If the name sounds familiar to you it’s because Maison Matisse was created by the fourth generation of the famous painter family : Henri Matisse. The design house wants to offer through its collections a contemporary reinterpretation of the artist’s paintings while perpetuating his style and his artistic universe.
“We were looking for an idea to bring my great-grandfather’s spirit to life without reproducing or. plagiarizing what he did so well in his time,” said great-grandson, Jean-Matthieu Matisse.
A collection of objects imposed itself because, in his paintings, there were always objects-actors of his canvas: a vase, a pitcher, a chair …
Last year they collaborated with renowned international designers such as The Bouroullec brothers, Alessandro Mendini or Jaime Hayon for a series of colorful vases.
For this second chapter, Maison Matisse decided to pair with young French-Polish designer Marta Bakowski to work on a tableware collection. Inspired by the painting “La Musique”, painted in 1939, the collection of ceramic objects plays with the iconic style of Henri Matisse : the wavy curves of the foliage, the regular cadence of the grid, the rhythm of geometric shapes, faces and solar patterns.
The Music (La Musique), 1939 by Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse viewed composition as, “the art of arranging in a decorative manner the various elements at a painter’s disposal for the expression of his feelings.” One of his goals was to create paintings that appeared effortless, when in reality, the unity and rhythm he achieved were far from easy. All elements had to be placed with great care.
He succeeded in this through several means: a diagonal line begins with the legs of the figure on the left and continues up through the guitar, in which the colors of the left-hand woman’s dress and legs are repeated; the right arms of both figures are in the same pose; the left arm of one figure parallels the right leg of her companion; and the hairstyles and facial features of both women are similar.
His ultimate goal, Matisse once said, was to create “an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter.”
The 14 pieces include platters, serving bowls, bottles, plates and pitchers. Some are more graphic with colorful spontaneous patterns, when other are adorned with a naive hand drawing and a softer color palette.
The whole collection is a balance between Marta Bakoski aesthetic and Matisse graphic style. While being faithful to the painter, Maison Matisse explore new way to bring Matisse into our homes.
Photography by Alice Cuvelier
Written for Trendland by guest contributor Camila Rigaud.
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