Matisse’s works in France were influenced by his travels to Italy, Morocco, and some parts of Africa. As luck would have it, his paintings are now selling for millions of dollars, but it was with great difficulty that he supported his family and children during his time. Up to the age of 20, he did not accomplish a lot in terms of artworks. He was employed as a court officer and it was during his recovery period for appendicitis that he discovered that art served as a good pastime. According to Matisse, it made him feel like he was ‘in paradise’. Matisse felt that this was his calling, and within the year, the aspiring artist made a decision to undergo formal art training at the Academie Julian in Paris. After some time, he moved to the French Riviera to collaborate with a group of artists called the Fauves or Wild Beasts. This name was a result of their flat strokes which employed symmetric lines that lacked detail despite the significant effects. Two of Matisse’s paintings, Still Life with Geranium and Reclining Nude I, proved to be his most distinguished works. However, it was his visits to Germany, Spain, Africa and Russia that affected Matisse’s work. By the year 1920, he had become a world-famous artist who was commissioned by one prominent figure after another to create murals, sculptures, and to give presentations. Using his art, he battled technology and contended for a return to something simpler and more expressive. Matisse died at the age of 84 because of a heart attack.