Végétaux by Henri Matisse Size:S - 29.7 x 42cm (A3) its slopes sweeping from the

its slopes sweeping from the lower left in a bold diagonal that fills almost the entire picture plane

the warm tones and organic curves hold their softness while every contour stays clean and sharp

Plate 16 from the Hyakucho Gafu is among the most compositionally open in the series

Rousseau's self-taught style gives this scene its peculiar power – every element is observed and invented simultaneously

yet the detail in each feather and the quality of light across the bird's form give it an almost monumental presence

Végétaux by Henri Matisse Size:S - 29.7 x 42cm (A3) its slopes sweeping from the'Vgtaux' ('Plants') belongs to the body of large format cut outs Matisse created in the early 1950s, when physical limitation led him to work at an architectural scale with painted and cut paper. Organic leaf and frond forms, rendered in flat chromatic fields, are assembled into a composition that breathes with botanical rhythm. There is a directness in the shapes each one cut in a single confident gesture that gives the work an almost monumental