1) As a young man, Henri traveled to Paris to study law. In 1889 he returned home to work in a law office as a clerk. It was around this time that he had an attack of appendicitis which required surgery. To make the long recovery more enjoyable, his mother gave him a paint box. It was then, at the age of 21, that Matisse discovered painting and decided to become an artist.
2) In 1891 Matisse traveled to Paris to study art at the Academe Julian. Despite the fact that his first teacher told him he would never learn to draw, he was determined to succeed.
3) In the beginning he painted still-life and landscapes and was beginning to see the results of his hard work. Five years later he exhibited 5 of his paintings in the salon of the Society Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The state purchased 2 of them.
4) In 1905, Matisse along with a group of artists which became known as "Fauves" (The Wild Beasts) exhibited together at the Salon d'Automne. The paintings shown were expressive, often without regard for the natural colors of the subject. Matisse's works in particular contained aggressive brush strokes and bold primary colors. The show brought sudden fame to Matisse with his "Woman with the Hat" being purchased by American writer and modern art collector Gertrude Stein.
5) In the 1940's Matisse began creating cut paper collages, often rather large pictures, called gouaches decouples. He called this new technique "painting with scissors". His cut paper collages demonstrated his eye for color and geometry in a simple, yet powerful way.