フランス北部に生まれ、法律事務所で働いていました。20歳のころ病気で入院したとき、母に絵の具箱をもらったのが画家になるきっかけです。1905年、現実とはちがう大胆な色の絵が「野獣（フォーヴ）のようだ」と言われ、「フォーヴィスム」の中心になります。晩年はハサミで色紙を切る切り絵で、新しい芸術をつくりました。
Matisse was born in northern France and worked in a law office. Around 20, he was in bed with an illness, and his mother gave him a paint box. That was the start of his life as an artist. In 1905, a critic said his bold, unnatural colors looked like the work of 'wild beasts' (fauves), and he became the leader of Fauvism. In old age, he made new art by cutting shapes from painted paper with scissors.
