This study introduces a set of explanations on originality and on what revolves around the openness of
the innovator to the others' culture, when inspiration is no longer found in the surrounding and the road
has become blocked. However, reality-re
jection spirit drives an artist to look for new ideas away from
repeated and prevalent aesthetics and pushes him to search for salvation. Matisse has found salvation
through his openness to other world cultures and civilizations, especially the Islamic Arab civilization
from which he extracted themes going with his originaelity. The title of this study has required as to
deal briefly with four issues:
1- West And East and the crisis of the western art.
2- Some aesthetic features of Islamic Arab art.
3- Who is Matisse.
4- Matisse on the in-between isthmus.
Research sheds light on aspects Similar to express formal each of Islamic Art and Art Ancient Near East,
where reflected these aspects in many technical features formalism, Iterance, and symmetry,
transparency and perspective and the absence of sha
dow and light, as well as other features that can be
previewed in the artistic to the arts . Despite the temporal and geographical disparities and intellectual
between civilizations of the ancient Near East and the Islamic civilization, there are several objective
factors that played varying roles influence in the case of these similarities. The most prominent of these
factors is the obvious similarity in climatic and environmental characteristics that originated those
civilizations, as well as the friction factor resulting from mutual rivalry and migrations between the
peoples of this region, in addition to the cultural succession between these arts on the one hand, and
Islamic art from the second hand. Where he played all of Sassanid art and Byzantine art as a mediator
between these arts and Islamic art, due to these tow arts had been influenced by the arts of the ancient
Near East.
