Stephan Reichmann

June 2026, Grand Palais, Paris. Matisse 1941–1954.

They were all there (really all of them) – the *Papiers gouchés & découpés*. The lightness of the colours and shapes, the cheerfulness and joy of constantly rearranging the motifs, and the newfound freedom to work in series – I could relate to all of that straight away. Right there in the studio in Paris Belleville, over the following days and without a break, I developed my own 12-piece series, sketching it digitally.
I then painted the designs on canvas during my working holiday in Leipzig in July. And yes, I worked almost four 40-hour weeks. A wonderful, intense time.

This is the first time I have deliberately used acrylic paints here. Without a gloss finish, they have a similar effect to gouache – less heavy, less ‘important. I have also reduced the depth of the stretcher frames from the usual 4 cm to just 2 cm. To further emphasise the sense of lightness, I have created a framing effect by leaving the outer parts of the canvas unpainted.

Another series in which I also reinterpreted Matisse was created two years earlier:
L'Escargot