In the last years of his life, Henri Matisse abandoned painting to make cut paper collages that were highly experimental and brought together everything he learned about color and design over the previous decades. These cutouts have influenced subsequent generations of artists and designers, serving as a primer in shape-making and other critical formal concepts like figure/ ground, progression, proportional relationships and color.

In this online course you will use colored papers and simple gluing techniques to explore Matisse’s visual language under the guidance of an experienced “artist/teacher.” Each day brings a new assignment designed to challenge you creatively and conceptually. Studies will be small in scale (under 11 x 8.5”) and numerous, with an emphasis on visual experimentation, rather than on the production of finished works. As the connection between cut paper collage and quilt making is clear, this course should be useful to textile artists.   

On class days, students should expect to spend the day working on their assignments and attending meetings between 9am and 5pm EST. Students will not be required to spend the majority of their time in front of their screens. Each course is optimized to create a balance of screen time and work time.