Henri Matisse is known for the masterful use of color found within his art, but there’s another world of his work focused on lines and shapes. For Milan Design Week 2023, Maison Matisse invited British designer Faye Toogood to interpret Chinese black ink on white paper from the book Dessins: Thèmes et Variations” by Matisse. Throughout its pages the artist repeatedly works over themes until the drawings reach a sort of natural equilibrium, completely devoid of color. The resulting Esquisses collection includes living room and bedroom furniture that pays homage to Matisse’s originality and the liberation expressed in these line drawings.
Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani, DSL Studio
Toogood was the ideal person to tap for the collaboration, as Matisse has long been a source of inspiration for the designer’s work. Her 2017 “Assemblage 5” collection was dedicated to Matisse’s “Chapelle du Rosaire” in Venice. The collaboration with Maison Matisse, founded by the artist’s descendants, allowed Toogood to dig further into his influence, creating her own form-based vocabulary.
Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani, DSL Studio
“With drawing as the start point, I worked on creating a library of gesture, line, and shape responding to motifs in Matisse’s sketches. I kept coming back to a series of table still life drawings Matisse made in the 40s. Fruits, vegetables, household objects, all rendered in his eloquent, essential line,” shared Toogood. “We ended up with more than 100 sketches and, initially just to catalogue them, we chose the best 24 and stuck them together in a concertina book. That format immediately suggested rugs and a blanket… and so those were there first pieces we developed.”
Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani, DSL Studio
The Esquisses collection features Maison Matisse’s first objects in a striking palette of black, white, and beige. The natural wool rugs are made using only colors found in sheep, keeping the focus on the line and shape. Also in keeping with Maison Matisse’s simple core values, every piece within the collection is produced in Italy by talented craftspeople.
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani, DSL Studio
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
To learn more about the Esquisses collection, visit maison-matisse.com.
