The essay I'm writing needs to have a paragraph or so about the "times" of matisse (for example: life, times, and works).
What exactly should I write about? Is there a key phrase I should google? Like for Masaccio, I was able to google the Renaissance and write a little about that. What should I be writing about with him?
I've already looked through websites with his biographies. It doesn't menton much about the climate of art at the time he came to popularity or how things were before him.
http://www.sprachcaffe.com/english/study_abroad/countries/france/french_history_early_20_century.htm
I just searched for france early 20th century and got varied results. The link above is most concentrated on France. Remember that his painting career spanned pre-World War I to post World War II. If this article doesn't give you what you need, you can re-search with different search terms.
=)