Matisse is often regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century. As a master of supreme decoration and expressive use of color, his visionary experiments into different styles of painting from his impressionistic domestic and figurative subjects to his abstract cut-outs changed our perception of the world. Early in his career, Matisse was viewed as a Fauvist (a group of artists known as the ""wild beasts""). His work gravitated to the beautiful and his celebration of bri