Chronology

December 31, 1869 Henri-3ò4mile-Benoît Matisse is born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France. He was raised in Bohain-en-Vermandois, an industrial textile center.

1882 – 1887 Attends the College de Saint-Quentin and the Lycée Henri- Martin at Saint-Quentin, France.

1887 – 1889 Studies law in Paris, France.

1889  Studies drawing at the municipal Ecole Quentin de La Tour, a school of décorative arts, Saint-Quentin, France.

1891 Matisse returns to Paris to study art at the Académie Julian and studies with the arch-academician William-Adolphe Bouguereau and the Symbolist Gustave Moreau.  

1892 Studies at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France.

1894 He has a daughter, Marguerite, with the model Caroline Joblau.

1895 Entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.

1896 Matisse exhibits 5 paintings in the salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

1898 Matisse marries Amélie Noellie Parayre .

1901 Matisse exhibits at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris and meets Maurice de Vlaminck.

1904  Matisse's first solo exhibition in Galerie Vollard.

1905 Matisse and a group of artists now known as "Fauves" (Wild Ones) exhibit their paintings together at the Salon d'Automne.  Works with André Derain in the town of Collioure, France.

1906 Matisse meets Pablo Picasso. He moves in Paris and establishes his home, studio, and school at Hôtel Biron.

1908 Stieglitz organizes the first exhibition of Matisse in New York at his own gallery.

1910 Matisse visits Munich to explore exhibitions of Oriental art.

1911 Matisse visits Russia.  

1912-1913 He spends the winters of 1912 and 1913 in Morocco .

1914-1918 Matisse divides his time between Collioure, Paris and Nice.

1917 Matisse relocates to Cimiez and stays at Hotel Regina, on the French Riviera, a suburb of the city of Nice.

1920s From the early 1920s until 1939, Matisse divides his time primarily between the south of France and Paris.

1925 Matisse is made chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

1927 He receives the first prize at the Carnegie International Exhibition at Pittsburgh.

1935 Matisse meets Lydia Delectorskaya.

1939 He and his wife get separated in 1939.

1941 Matisse is diagnosed with cancer and, following surgery, he begins to use a wheelchair.

1943 Matisse lives in Vence at the villa "Le Reve" until 1948 .

1947 Matisse writes and illustrates Jazz.

1950 Wins Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.

1954 Matisse dies of a heart attack at the age of 84.