No Better Religion

LAURIE PROTHRO

Henri Matisse devoted his life to searching for an art of “equilibrium” that would sustain him in an unstable world. The exhibit of 55 Matisse cutouts that opened this fall at the National Gallery in Washington illustrates what heights this ambition of Matisse’s led him to reach. His works cheer and rejuvenate, the childlike shapes in their innocence purify; together, the gouaches découpées celebrate all that is good in life.