Rarely lent Matisse art to be shown at H’ART Museum in Amsterdam from Oct. 3 to Feb. 14

Installation has begun at H’ART Museum in Amsterdam for a retrospective of French painter Henri Matisse. “Chez Metisse - Masterpieces from Centre Pompidou” is set to run from October 3 through Sunday, February 14.

The exhibition comprises 80 works, on loan from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which is closed for renovation. Of those, 37 are by Matisee paintings, sculptures, and graphic works. The rest are by contemporaries and later artists he influenced, including Picasso, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko.

One of the key works, Figure décorative sur fond ornemental (Nice, 1925-1926), was unpacked and hanged Wednesday morning. The painting is considered important in Matisse’s oeuvre because he “brings together several core ideas from his work in a single radical composition. Figure and background become almost one, so that rhythm, color, and decoration primarily determine the image,” a museum spokesperson said.

Another standout is “La Blouse roumaine” (1940), a work that is almost never lent. This will be only the second time it has left Centre Pompidou.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is regarded as one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century. “He broke with all academic traditions,” said museum curator Brigit Boelens.

It is only the third time his work has been shown on this scale in the Netherlands. The last exhibition was in 2015.