Which artist is known for his paper cut-outs in his later years?

Henri Matisse is the artist known for developing paper cut-outs during his later years. After abdominal surgery in 1941 left him largely confined to a wheelchair or bed, painting and sculpture became difficult, so he began cutting shapes from paper painted with gouache and arranging them into bold compositions.

Matisse called this process “drawing with scissors.” With help from studio assistants, he created colorful forms that could be pinned, moved, and recombined on walls. The method grew from small studies into large works such as Oceania the Sky, Oceania the Sea, and The Snail. His 1947 artist’s book Jazz also helped make the technique widely recognized.

The cut-outs were not simply craft collages. Matisse used them to explore line, color, movement, and space, often achieving effects that stood between painting, drawing, and sculpture. He continued using paper cut-outs as his principal medium until his death in 1954. Joan Miró, Georges Braque, and Pablo Picasso also worked with collage or cut-paper techniques, but Matisse is the canonical answer to this question.