In the manner of Henri Matisse
French, 1869–1954
Monstera and Speaker, 2026
Gouache cut-outs and oil
200 × 160 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.16.4
Big monstera leaves in three greens crowd the top of the sheet, and at the bottom a small black cylinder speaker sits beside a blue seated figure with a hand to her head, listening, or waiting for it to hear her. A little yellow dancer skips at the left. Matisse's cut-outs are full of leaves and blue nudes. The speaker is the only thing here that is not having a good time.
The brief
Large cut-paper monstera leaves in three greens beside a small black cylinder speaker on a white ground. 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.
