The Musée Matisse Nice explores contemporary perspectives on the work of Henri Matisse (1869–1954). This year, the museum presents a temporary exhibition dedicated to Alex Katz, one of the leading figures of American painting.

The dialogue between Henri Matisse and Alex Katz forms part of a broader cultural history connecting France and the United States. Matisse’s work was exhibited across the Atlantic as early as 1908, contributing to the American public’s discovery of the most avant-garde developments in European art.

Conceived in collaboration with Alex Katz himself, Henri Matisse – Alex Katz. The Silence of Painting offers a new perspective on the museum’s collections, bringing Katz’s works into dialogue with those of Matisse.

Spanning a broad chronological range, the exhibition invites visitors to explore Katz’s artistic journey, from his earliest works, such as Nude (1951), to his most recent, including Lilies 13 (2025). Paintings, drawings, collages and prints from the artist’s studio encourage visitors to rediscover the museum’s collections—which themselves originated in Matisse’s studio—through a contemporary lens. In doing so, the exhibition reveals the enduring relevance and vitality of Matisse’s work while highlighting the unexpected affinities between the two artists.