European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Modern living monday october 3, 1977. The stars and stripes Page 19 massive 1952/53 Matisse cutout measures 178 by 245 inches. The cutting Edge of by John Russell new York times Enri Matisse in his 70s and Early 80s was a Man reborn. He could have died during the Winter of 194142, after an extensive internal operation which he had endured far from Home and at a time of National disaster. His nurses spoke of him As the Man who came Back from the dead and they did not exaggerate. In medical terms he had nothing to look Forward to but a Long Diminu Endo of his physical Powers. For 50 years he had worked All Day and every Day with that unyielding regularity which bespeaks the Man of the North. And he could retire in the knowledge that his would forever be one of the greatest names in the history of european Art. But he did t want to retire. Not Only was activity fundamental to his nature but he kept having new ideas which demanded to be made use of. And quite apart from that he had an irrational but imperious intimation that he was going to go Back to work on a colossal scale. But at that same time it was brought Home to him that he would never again be Strong enough to stand at the easel and paint a big picture any More than he would be Strong enough to make sculpture. It was in these daunting circumstances that Matisse entered upon the final phase in his career which is commemorated in Henri Matisse paper Cut outs at the National gallery of Art in Washington . How he set about it is by now part of the folklore of modern Art. Lying in bed he Cut with Sharp scissors or shears into Large sheets of paper which his assistants had coloured on his instructions. It is Clear from an unpainted specimen of these Cut papers which is included in the show that by 1947 he was As dexterous with his scissors As he was with the drawn line. With Cut paper As much As with More traditional modes of expression Matisse could do what he liked unerringly. But what did he want to do now that he had this new and All but incorporeal medium Between Finger and thumb never one to repeat himself he had within him a whole world of images which he had never chosen to re lease. Some of them derived from popular entertain ments which he had enjoyed in childhood. Some of them derived from a visit to Tahiti which he had made in 1930. Some of them related to a vein of fantasy which had previously found no outlet in his  particular Matisse in times of infirmity liked to daydream about scenes of vigorous action. Though in appearance the most sedentary of men he had been in ear Lier Days an enthusiastic single sculler a More than passable swimmer and a horseman who surprised Many of his friends by going Riding every Day with Picasso. When the occasion demanded it he excelled in the por trayal of strenuous action. Blue nude in is life size 30 by 40 inches before illness crippled him Matisse was famed for paintings such As this odalisque done in 1922