A major exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and the Grand Palais focuses on the final, revolutionary period of Henri Matisse's career, from 1941 to 1954. The show charts his artistic reinvention following a life-threatening surgery, beginning with obsessive, reworked paintings from his Nice studio during the war and culminating in the radiant, large-scale cut-outs for which he is widely celebrated.
The article is a first-person diary entry from an unnamed narrator visiting Paris and Brussels. The narrator recounts working in the studio of painter Camila Oliveira Fairclough, attending a public dialogue at Almine Rech gallery in Brussels with artist Erik Lindman, and viewing an exhibition pairing Lindman's paintings with works by Robert Motherwell and two Picassos chosen by Bernard Picasso. The narrator also visits a posthumous exhibition of Didier Demozay at Galerie Bernard Jordan and sees a temporary mural by Marielle Paul in a Paris housing complex, later visiting her studio in a historic 19th-century artist building once occupied by Eugène Carrière.
In the first episode of 2026, Ben Luke, Jane Morris, and Gareth Harris preview the year's major art events, including museum openings, biennials, and exhibitions. Highlights include the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, V&A East, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, along with the Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, and shows dedicated to artists like Gainsborough, Raphael, Zurbarán, and Matisse.