In 1942, Henri Matisse declared: "The importance of an artist is measured by the quantity of new signs he has introduced into the plastic language. "The radical reformulation of colour during the Fauve period, the reflection on the decorative which rebalanced his compositions, the exploration of modern trends such as cubism, the importance given to light when he moved to Nice. All of Matisse's work, intended to overturn the modern gaze, turned towards this creation of signs. Painting, drawing, sculpture, illustrated books... the painter exhausted techniques to elaborate a world without equivalent. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), the Centre Pompidou pays tribute to these plastic signs that the artist created. Based on the structure of Aragon's book Henri Matisse, Roman (1971), the exhibition retraces the different stages of Matisse's career, seeking, as in the book, to capture "a glimmer of what is happening". The journey, divided into nine chapters, never loses sight of the artwork's uninterrupted relationship to the word and helps to understand the painter's perpetual reflection on painting.