Henri Matisse
October lesson Plan for Fourth Grade
Printmaking
Biographical information
Henri Matisse ( 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French artist known for
his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman,
printmaker, and sculptor but is known primarily as a painter. Matisse is regarded, along
with Picasso as one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century, responsible for
significant developments in painting and sculpture. His mastery of the expressive
language of colour and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a halfcentury, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art. Today one of his
paintings can cost as much as 17 million dollars.
Today we are going to be talking about Matisse the printmaker. Matisse was involved
with printmaking for more than fifty years. From 1900 until his death in 1954 he
completed more than eight hundred intaglios, lithographs, woodcuts, linoleum cuts, and
monotypes. Unlike many other printmakers, he had a very personal connection to his
printmaking process and used it as a way of relaxing after long periods of painting.
Because of this relationship to his paintings, there are several periods where Matisse
made many prints. It is believed that in 1929 Matisse made more than one hundred
etchings and drypoints. Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in
which an image is transfered into a solid surface with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp
metal or diamond point. Like etching, drypoint is easier for an artist trained in drawing to
master than engraving, as the technique of using the needle is closer to using a pencil
than engraving utensils. The personal connection of Matisse's printmaking is shown in
his working process. Unlike many artists who depended on close relationships with
master printers in their workshops, Matisse spent most of his time on an etching press
installed in his studio. This allowed him to print whenever he wanted to and provided
privacy. Matisse’s prints were mostly portraits of friends, family, and fellow artists.
They were executed on a small scale with simple lines, giving them a sense of
spontaneity, like pages in a sketchbook.
Now that we have learned a little bit about printmaking, let’s take a look at some of
Matisse’s prints.
Vocabulary Words
Draughtsman: a person who uses the visual art of drawing.
Printmaking: the process of making artworks typically on paper.
Etching: the process of using strong acid to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal
surface to create a design in the intaglio method. As an intaglio method of printmaking
it is, along with engraving commonly used today.
Drypoint: technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate with
a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point.
Intaglio: a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface,
known as the matrix or plate.
Discussion Questions
Here are a few questions to ask the students while showing examples of Henri Matisse’s
works of art.
What do you see in these prints? What else do you see?
What words would you use to describe the prints? What other words might we
use?
What does this print show?
How would you describe the lines in this print? The colors?
Here are some questions to ask the students after they have completed their project. If
time allows, they can even use their own works of art to answer the following.
How is your print like the one we just saw? How is it different?
What interests you most about this type of art?
What does your print and Matisse’s print have in common?
Fall Themed Drypoint Prints
Materials: Project example, toothpicks (or pencil point), white paper (1 piece per
person), paint, 1 piece of Styrofoam per person, tempera paint (orange, yellow, black,
blue), bowls for paint, sponge brushes, rollers, and paper towels.
Read – A book was not selected for this lesson
Play – From Matisse to You, Songs in the Key of Art by Greg Percy
Trifold board with artist examples
Before getting started please prepare an area to dry artworks and have children roll up
their sleeves. If the students have their art smocks accessible, they may want to wear
them.
Give each child, one piece of Styrofoam, 1 piece of white paper, roller, and toothpick.
Paint can be set-up in one area or shared between a few students. Students are going to
create a fall themed image. (Pumpkins, ghost, witch, etc.) Only the lines pressed into the
foam will show when project is complete.
1. Using the drypoint technique you will be creating your print by pressing the point
of a toothpick into a piece Styrofoam.
2. Once your image is complete, you will coat the entire piece of Styrofoam with
ink. The paint will collect into the image you made with the toothpick.
3. When the piece is covered, using a damp paper towel, wipe the Styrofoam clean.
You will see that the paint is still in the depressed area.
4. Finally, lay the Styrofoam, image side down, onto a piece of white paper and
press with rollers to transfer image.
5. When image is dry students can take home and complete print by adding
additional color with colored pencils.
Young Girl Leaning on Her Elbows in front of Flowered Screen, 1923