Public documentation of the research process

Start: July 20, 2026 • End: July 20, 2027 • Organizer: Art Stylus • Location: Virtual exhibition via Kunstmatrix

Introduction: The project begins with a painting in which Blaise Pascal’s Pensées occupies a central place. Pascal is known worldwide as a mathematician, physicist and philosopher, and as the creator of one of the earliest mechanical calculating machines. One of the most influential programming languages also bears his name. His unfinished Pensées, composed of fragments and published after his death, is primarily known as the outline of an apology for the Christian faith. Yet even a non-sequential, almost random reading of these fragments reveals their philosophical power and insights that still feel relevant today.

Why did Matisse choose to paint this particular book? Research into his interiors indicates that he depicted only four books with legible titles. The explanation that he selected books merely for the colour of their covers seems insufficient, especially considering the education, interests and life experience of the artist, who was then fifty-five.

Could fragment 139, according to the Brunschvicg numbering, offer another way of reading the Nice interiors? Together, the book and the paintings open a broader question: what does it mean to remain at home in stillness, alone with one’s own thoughts??

Project Status · 20 July 2026
Main Components of the Research-Based Virtual Exhibition

I. Twelve images of works by Henri Matisse, forming a research corpus centred on stillness, contemplation, dwelling, care, theatre, inspiration, transition and renewal.
II. Two images from contemporary cinema, included in the comparative section After Matisse.
III. One original digital interpretation developed by the researcher from her personal encounter with, and her own photographic documentation of a work by Matisse.
IV. Five original informational and interpretative panels, establishing the principal transitions within the exhibition narrative.

Phase I: Image Selection
The curatorial selection comprises twelve works by Henri Matisse. Images explicitly identified as being in the Public Domain are available for five of them. The rights status or conditions governing the intended use of the remaining seven images need to be clarified with five museum institutions.

Image Status and Conditions of Use

- Images explicitly identified as Public Domain: 5
- Image available under a free licence through Wikimedia Commons, but not presented under the same status by the holding institution: 1
- Photographs taken by the researcher during museum visits, for which permission is required for scholarly use: 4
- Images published on museum websites whose use requires prior permission: 2
Summary
Total number of works by Matisse: 12
Images requiring clarification with the museums: 7
Museum institutions to be contacted: 5