Matisse isn’t the only artist in the world to see fabrics for couches and other furniture being modeled after some of his works, but he is one of the most popular these days. It all comes down to creating the perfect room with a theme or colors in mind. That means one thing that brings a room together can actually end up dictating the other things in the room. Art and paintings have a great way of making a room pop; and that is exactly why it has been something upholsters have been following for years.
That’s also why we have been seeing a number of fabrics appearing that are based on some of Henri Matisse’s paintings. Because when people start asking for those paintings to hang in their home, they also tend to look for the fabrics that are going to accommodate the painting. So why not craft ones that are specific to a painting people are going to be looking for anyway. The advantage in particular with Matisse’s paintings though is that he was a textile worker, which means that he has worked with furniture design in the past and many of his paintings are actually perfect for fabric designs as well.
Of course Matisse is iconic, to the point of inspiring other textile artists, and just artists in general across all mediums and formats. We don’t see quite as many other fabric designs with other paint artists, so there is definitely something about his work that is leading to people wanting fabric done of it. Interestingly enough though Matisse hasn’t ever done his own textiles; the best we ever saw was a scarf done with his designs when he was still alive, but otherwise this new age of using Matisse work for fabric designs is wide open and rather interesting.
Who knows what other artists we might see in furniture fabric before long?
Source: https://online.wsj.com/articles/decorating-fabrics-inspired-by-matisse-1406140729b