In the manner of Henri Matisse
French, 1869–1954
Sunday Ride, 2026
Gouache cut-outs and oil
200 × 160 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.16.5
Moving, 8-second loop ·
A blue cyclist rides through a flurry of cut leaves, coral scarf flying, under a yellow sun with spiky rays. The wheels are two perfect blue circles, the kind you only get with scissors after years of practice. Matisse said he wanted his art to be something like a good armchair for a tired man. This is the armchair, on a Sunday, going downhill.
The brief
A cut-paper figure on a bicycle among stylised leaves and a yellow sun, blue and coral shapes scattered like wind. Mid-century paper cut-out composition, bold flat shapes of saturated gouache-painted paper in blue, coral, green and yellow pinned on a white ground, organic leaf and figure silhouettes, joyful simplicity, visible cut edges and pin marks, decorative rhythm, no shading. Museum photograph of the cut-paper work on white, flat even lighting, no frame, no text, no wall, no floor, cropped to the canvas edge.
Written to the house rules. The painter's name does not appear.
Take it home
The painting on this room's wall, at its own proportions, nothing written on it.
