Light and Silence in Matisse's Art: Listening to the Spirit

Expression or representation of light and of silence is central to the art and thought of Henri Matisse (1869–1954), and he intended that both light and silence are linked to the life of the spirit in us. Listening to the spirit as it speaks to us in Matisse’s art and the implications of the spirit for students of art and of the humanities are, thus, the primary concerns of this essay.